Oil worker sues employer for £250,000 over his Niger Delta kidnap ordeal

An oil worker is suing his employer for £250,000 after he was kidnapped in Nigeria.

Gordon Gray says he was left traumatised by the seven-day ordeal.

Mr Gray, from Crieff, was abducted by a gang of armed men from the Bulford Dolphin offshore platform in the Niger Delta in 2007.

He is now seeking damages from his Aberdeen-based employer Dolphin Drilling.

The civil proceedings are expected to be held at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in the summer.

The father-of-three suffered minor injuries while he was being kept hostage for seven days, before he was eventually handed over to Nigerian government officials. It is not known if a ransom was paid for his release.

George Clark, managing director of Quantum Claims in Aberdeen, said: "In the middle of the night the vessel was boarded by pirates who kidnapped Mr Gray, took him at gunpoint off the rig, to a safe house onshore in Nigeria

"He was held at gunpoint under threat of death during a period of approximately seven days before he was eventually released.

"He subsequently has not been able to return to work, or at least to return to working in that environment.

"As a result of that has raised an action for damages against his employers, on the basis that they failed to take adequate precautions to secure against the risk of kidnap, which is a well-known problem in that area of the world."

Mr Clark acknowledged that oil workers travelling to Nigeria know that there is a risk of kidnapping, but said employers still have a "duty of care" and should take all "reasonable and necessary" steps to try and ensure the safety of their staff.

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