Oil companies in Nigeria are being hit with rising costs due to kidnappings of their staff that have become so commonplace in the volatile Niger Delta one Nigerian company is selling T-shirts calling it the country's "fastest growing business!''

For many though, it's no joke. In the face of growing insecurity, companies trying to keep fearful staff from fleeing are paying more for insurance, salaries, perks and housing.

"My wife doesn't want to bring our kids back,'' said Scotsman Graeme Kerr, a general manager of two oil services companies whose family left the country after a Port Harcourt bar Kerr was in was attacked by gunmen in August. "Now I'm looking for some work outside of Nigeria.''

Kerr escaped the August attack by hiding under a table, but his best friend was seized by gunmen. Nearly 60 other foreigners have been snatched this year, 10 of them friends of Kerr. All were released unharmed.

Militant groups say they are fighting for a greater share of the region's oil wealth, which has largely bypassed Delta inhabitants and ended up in the pockets of corrupt politicians. However, many say that what may have once been a politically motivated protest has degenerated into simple extortion, as splinter groups seize foreigners and demand cash from their companies for their safe return. Most companies deny they pay ransoms, although militant groups and the Nigerian government tell a different story.

In the latest violence Tuesday, attackers wielding automatic rifles overran a navy base and occupied a nearby oil facility, holding several troops and 60 Nigerian oil workers hostage in violence that trimmed crude output in Africa's biggest producer.

"Our deployment allowance just got raised,'' said one private security contractor working for a large oil services firm, referring to the extra money employees get for working in region designated as risky. He declined to discuss figures or let himself or his company be identified due to restrictions on speaking with the press, but said the financial impact of kidnappings was "huge.''

Apart from ransoms, which most companies deny they pay, "insurance goes up, and salaries, perks and housing all go up too to try to keep the staff,'' he said.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2006/10/11/73226.htm

Did you see this - "a general manager of two oil services company"