Representatives of two main oil workers' unions, PENGASSAN and NUPENG, were present for meeting in capital, Abuja

Nigeria's president did not show up Tuesday for a planned meeting with oil workers' unions that have threatened to go on strike.

Representatives of the two main oil workers' unions, PENGASSAN and NUPENG, were present for the meeting in the capital, Abuja.

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But President Olusegun Obasanjo never appeared. The French Press Agency, AFP, quotes Nigeria's labor minister as saying the president was kept away by "pressing state matters."

The meeting had already been postponed 24 hours from Monday.

The oil workers' unions are seeking greater security for their workers in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta region.

Gunmen in the region carry out frequent kidnappings and attacks on oil facilities. A militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, wants local residents to receive a greater share of the region's oil wealth.

Reports from Nigeria Tuesday say gunmen kidnapped a Philippine oil worker and killed a policemen who was escorting him.

A total of 25 Filipinos are now in captivity in Nigeria. The 24 others were abducted from a cargo ship in the Niger Delta last month.

The kidnappings and violence have held down Nigerian oil production for the past year and contributed to high world oil prices.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.