Nigerian rebels take eight oil workers hostage

Six Britons have been kidnapped on an offshore oil rig in Nigeria. Two other foreigners, an American and a Canadian, were also taken hostage in the raid on the Bulford Dolphin rig, operated by Aberdeen-based Dolphin Drilling for Nigerian oil company Peak Petroleum. Sky News reports that the kidnappers now want to negotiate with the companies who contracted the Scottish firm. A group calling itself the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has carried out a series of attacks on pipelines and oil plants. It has also kidnapped foreign workers in the past.