S Koreans seized in Niger Delta

Delta militants have carried out a series of attacks and abductions

Nine South Korean oil workers have been taken hostage by armed insurgents in Nigeria, the foreign ministry said.

The incident took place overnight at a Daewoo oil facility in the southern Nigerian oil state of Bayelsa. A Nigerian worker was also abducted.

The attack comes less than a week after five Chinese telecom workers were seized by gunmen in another area of the volatile Niger Delta.

Kidnappings for ransom and attacks on the industry are frequent in the area.

Emergency taskforce

The oil platform was being guarded by about 50 soldiers when the unidentified gunmen stormed the building in the early morning and took the men hostage.

"This is one abduction too many. We as a government will do everything humanly possible to secure the release of the men and put a stop to the criminal activities of the militants," government spokesman Welson Ekiyor told AFP news agency.

A Daewoo spokesman said the company had set up an emergency task force to rescue the men, who were building pipelines in the south of the country.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants in the Niger Delta are holding nine other foreign oil workers; five Chinese nationals abducted last Friday and three Italians and one Lebanese taken hostage on 7 December.