Kiev  - Ukrainian law enforcers on Tuesday formally charged the ethnic Nigerian leader of a hugely popular evangelical Christian church of complicity in bilking his congregation of millions, the Interfax news agency reported.

Pastor Sunday Adelaja, senior pastor of Embassy of God in Kiev, Ukraine, was among the ringleaders in an international scheme to attract funds from Ukrainian churchgoers into questionable Nigerian businesses run by friends and relatives, the accusation read in part.

Nairobi/Abuja  - Two Russian men kidnapped in December by rebels in the Niger Delta have escaped from captivity and have been rescued by the army, a Nigerian military spokesman said on Friday.

The two, who are employees of a Russian aluminium company, were taken by members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on December
20.

Lt. Col. Sagir Musa told the BBC that the two men "escaped from a yet-to-be-identified military camp and for the past five days were wandering in the creeks before our own patrol team saw and rescued them."

Lagos - Oil workers in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta went on strike Monday to complain about a lack of protection from militant groups who attack oil facilities and kidnap workers.

Several hundred employees of oil company Total picketed the company's office in Port Harcourt despite union officials delaying industrial action due to begin Monday, local media reported.

Militant groups often attack oil installations and kidnap expatriate workers in the Niger Delta, saying they are fighting for a greater share of profits from oil exploitation for the poor of the region.

Seoul  - The Nigerian government on Thursday rescinded oil exploration rights at two fields off the Nigerian coast that were granted to South Korean firms four years ago.

Justifying the move, the Nigerian government said the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) had not made payments as scheduled, according to the KNOC. Allegedly, the KNOC only paid 192 million dollars of the 323 million price that had been agreed upon.

The KNOC says the agreement had only been for 192 million dollars. KNOC says part of the deal called for it to help develop Nigeria's energy infrastructure.

Nairobi/Abuja - A mob has has raided the home of a film director jailed for defying Islamic censors in northern Nigeria, local media reported Monday.

Hamisu Lamido, known as Iyan Tama, is serving a 15-month sentence for releasing a film without the approval of the Kano State Censor's Board.

A mob of over 30 men late last week broke into his home and threatened his wife and children, a family friend told Leadership Nigeria.

Nobody was injured and nothing was stolen in the attack.

Lamido was jailed in December, but his lawyers are appealing the sentence.

New Delhi, Jan. 14: India and Nigeria have expressed keen desire to take forward the existing cooperation between the two countries in the hydro-carbon sector.

At a bilateral meeting held in New Delhi on Tuesday with Dr. Emmanuel O. Egbogah, Adviser to the President on Petroleum matters, Additional Secretary in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry S. Sundareshan informed that in the two blocks awarded to ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd. (OMEL), the company has strived to fulfill its obligations.