FOUR OIL SERVICE COMPANY EXPATRIATES REPORTEDLY

UNCLAS LAGOS 000027 SIPDIS DS/IP/AF, AF/EX, DS/IP/OPO, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/ITA, STATE PASS DOE FOR JBRODMAN AND CGAY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC EPET KHLS NI PGOV PINR PTER CASC SUBJECT: FOUR OIL SERVICE COMPANY EXPATRIATES REPORTEDLY KIDNAPPED OFFSHORE - 01/11/06 ¶1. (U)Summary: On January 12, Tidex, an American oil services company, reported an American employee and 3 other expatriates were kidnapped by a group of approximately40 armed men. The incident occurred aboard a Tidex vessel 7 miles off shore of Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The abduction occurred at 1700 hrs the previous day. No known ransom demands were made. The whereabouts of the expatriates are unknown now. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU)On January 11, 5 at 2200 hours acting RSO Lagos spoke with Tidex Oil Services Lagos Managing Director Nelson Greer. Greer stated that the Liberty Service, a Vanuatu-flagged vessel contracted by Shell Oil company was boarded on January 11 at 1600 hrs. by approximately 40 armed men who vandalized the ship before carrying off all four of expatriates on board. No Nigerian crew members were abducted The vessel was 7 miles off shore in the Shell Eastern Area Field. The ship's Nigerian crew reported that shots were fired but no one was injured and that the abductors escaped by canoe. ¶3. (U)The Liberty Service is a 200 foot security vessel which typically has 12 - 14 armed Nigerian Naval personnel on-board. At the time of the incident, only half of the Naval personnel were on board with the other half of them patrolling the Shell Eastern Field in smaller boats. ¶4. (SBU)The following information was given on the kidnapped expatriates: --Pat Landry Captain of ship US Citizen (confirmed by ACS) --Harry Ebanks Engineer Honduran citizen --Milko Nichev Engineer Bulgarian citizen --Nigel (last name unknown) Shell Security Liasion Officer British or Possibly South African citizen ¶5. (U) The vessel is expected to arrive in Onnie port, Port Harcourt at 1300 hrs today where Tidex officials are waiting to interview the crew. FBI attache Mark Johnson spoke with Tidex Security Manager Curtis Jones this morning from Port Harcourt. Jones confirmed that 40 persons were involved in the attack. Jones stated that no demands have been made and further verified that the only four western expatriates on board were taken. ¶6. (U) The point of contact in this matter is RSO/acting Rod Collins at (office) 234-1-261-1303. BROWNE