A worker at Shell Bonga project offshore Nigeria

Oil companies operating in Nigeria should evacuate their staff from the southern Niger Delta after several attacks on oil facilities, a senior oil workers’ union official said on Tuesday.

“Best thing for any reasonable company to do is evacuate its workforce,” Cogent Ojobor, chairman of the Warri branch of the Nupeng oil labour union, told Reuters.

Chika Onuegbu, chairman of the Trade Union in Rivers state in the Delta, said Chevron had evacuated some staff from the Delta, after a similar move from Shell.

“There is high alert around various installation around the Niger Delta due to recent attacks,” Onuegbu said.

“Those evacuated are where their platforms have been attacked but others are working.”