Port Harcourt, Nigeria 06/14 – Amid rising insecurity in Nigeria`s oil-rich Niger Delta, the Nigerian subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has offered to assist any of its expatriates willing to leave the region.
Spokesman for the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Precious Okologbo, said at a media forum in the oil city of Port Harcourt Wednesday, the company was aware of a directive by the British government to its nationals to leave three states in the Niger Delta because of continuing kidnapping of expatriate workers.
He said Shell had informed the British nationals and other expatriate staff, who might want to leave the region, of its readiness to assist them.
Okologbo, who did not say if there had been any such request, however, dismissed speculations that the company was planning to relocate its headquarters from the oil region to the economic capital city of Lagos.
“Shell has no plans to leave the Niger Delta region or to move its headquarters out of Port Harcourt,” he said, adding: “Our offices in some states are still intact despite the perceived problems in the region and we will not close them.”
Over 100 foreign workers have been kidnapped this year by militant groups operating in the Niger Delta.
Most of the abductees are usually released unharmed after the payment of ransom, although companies and governments rarely admit paying any ransom to secure the release of hostages.
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