By Alan Richardson

A CRIEFF oil worker kidnapped at gunpoint from a rig off the coast of Nigeria was “fit and well” yesterday, according to his employer.

The man, Gordon Gray, believed to be of the town’s Ferntower Road, remains a hostage after being ordered from the installation by a gun-bearing gang which arrived in speedboats and overpowered the crew of the rig’s guard ship in the early hours of Saturday.

Yesterday Mrs Gray said she would be making no comment of any kind when The Courier visited her home, where it is thought they stay with their son. However, a neighbour confirmed Mr Gray works in the oil industry and is offshore for long spells.

The Foreign Office said it is working to secure Mr Gray’s release.

His employer, Aberdeen-based rig operator Dolphin Drilling, stated its client in Nigeria has had contact with the kidnappers and confirmed he is okay.

Rumours that a second man—a foreign national—was also taken could not be confirmed.

Mr Gray was working on the Bulford Dolphin rig, off the Bayelsa state of Nigeria’s Niger delta region, around 40 miles offshore of the southern part of the country.

A spokesman for Dolphin Drilling detailed the kidnapping. He said, “It was around 4am on Saturday morning. The reports we gained said a number of personnel boarded the guard vessel and gained access to the rig from the guard vessel.

“Having abducted the man, they left the scene in small boats, which is a fairly typical method used in the past.”

The rig is the same one from which eight workers—six Britons, an American and a Canadian—were snatched last June, again in a night-time raid using speedboats. They were released two days later.

The spokesman, whose company operates the rig on behalf of Norwegian owners Fred Olsen Energy ASA, added, “Dolphin has been in contact with the man’s family.

“Other contracted companies on the rig have contacted all relatives of personnel, and individual crew members have been allowed to call their families.”

Asked if the company has had any contact with the kidnappers, he said, “We haven’t directly, but the client in Nigeria has.

“There have been no demands made as yet. We have no clarity on the actual objectives of the group.”

He confirmed Mr Gray is “fit and well” and said the company is working closely with the Foreign Office.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said Embassy staff in the capital Lagos were in contact with Nigerian officials.

“We are in contact with authorities and hoping to bring a swift and peaceful resolution to the incident,” she added.

The incident is the latest in a spate of kidnappings in Nigeria’s oil-rich but impoverished and near-lawless Niger River delta region.

A security expert in Nigeria said the kidnappers came from a coastal community in the Niger delta that has had disputes with the operators of the rig in the past.

Such disputes are common in the delta, where villagers neglected by corrupt governments expect oil companies to provide jobs and basic public services such as electricity, roads and clean water.

Nearly 70 foreigners have been taken since the beginning of the year, but most are released unharmed after a cash payment.

A Dutch construction worker and two Chinese remain in captivity. Last year four Scots from Aberdeenshire were held for two weeks before being released.

Some of the kidnappers make political demands, while other gangs just demand large cash payments.

The weekend attack has not affected production on the Bulford Dolphin, an exploration rig which will not produce crude oil for another two years.