The Royal Dutch Shell will not abandon the Niger Delta, even though the company lost 17 workers in Nigeria in 2006, and Shell, the largest oil producer in Nigeria with a daily output of over 2.6 million barrels, is losing almost 477,000 barrels per day due to the current violent conflicts in the Niger Delta.

There are conflicting reports on the case of Filipina businesswoman Josiebeth Foroozan whom the Nigerian Police reported had been abducted in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt as she got out of her car on February 7, 2007. But her abduction has been denied by a Foreign Affairs official in Manila, Philippines.

Presidential Candidate Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is Alive!
On the phone with his associates this afternoon he said, "I wish to thank all my supporters for their well wishes, and want to assure them I'm quite fine and will be back on the campaign trail shortly."

The security situation in Nigeria's oil rich Niger Delta has deteriorated sharply in the past few weeks despite government promises to curb hostage taking in the region. For VOA, Gilbert da Costa reports from Abuja that officials are particularly worried about the fate of at least three Chinese oil workers abducted Thursday.