Govt. takes necessary steps to rescue kidnapped Indian workers in Nigeria: Vayalar Ravi

Assuring the families of four oil workers who were kidnapped in Nigeria, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said that the government would take all steps to rescue them.

Chennai, Oct 30 : Assuring the families of four oil workers who were kidnapped in Nigeria, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said that the government would take all steps to rescue them.

"We can assure the families that government is on the job, the first priority only aims at getting them released. We will take all the efforts, because they are our citizens. Our embassy and we too from here also do everything and see that they are released at the earliest," Ravi said.

The four Indians were among six foreign workers abducted last week from an Italian oil facility in the Niger Delta, Africa's biggest oil-producing region.

This is the third such incident of Indians being kidnapped in Nigeria in the past 18 months alone. Earlier this year, 12 Indian workers were kidnapped from their office headquarters in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt and after a gruelling three weeks were finally freed.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings from the Mystras oil production vessel, 53 miles offshore and operated by ENI unit Saipem and SBM Offshore.

Attacks by MEND since early last year have cut Nigerian oil output by a fifth and forced thousands of foreigners to flee the vast wetlands region in southern Nigeria.

ANI