Gunmen attacked two oil installations in southern Nigeria

Gunmen attacked two oil installations in southern Nigeria, kidnapping two senior Nigerian employees of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and two foreigners. Late Sunday night, gunmen in speedboats attacked a production barge on Calabar River and kidnapped two foreigners working for the British company Expro Group, according to private security contractors. One of those seized was British and the other was Bulgarian, according to the British Foreign Office and Bulgaria's ambassador to Nigeria.

Sunday night's attack coincided with the release of Margaret Hill, a British toddler whose father works for an energy company. The 3-year-old was the first foreign child to be kidnapped in the restive Niger River delta region. On Monday, the region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, disowned Margaret's kidnapping and promised to find the perpetrators. It has carried out several kidnappings of oil workers in the past.