By Camillus Eboh ABUJA, March 21 (Reuters) - European Union election observers will stay away from Nigeria's volatile delta region during next month's landmark vote, the EU's team leader said on Wednesday. A spate of kidnappings, mostly for ransom, and attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta has prompted thousands of foreigners to flee Africa's oil heartland in the past year, and thousands more to hunker down under a security lockdown. "We are not going to deploy in Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa because in these states, the environment for international observers is not conducive," said Max van den Berg, chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission. "It is painful that we cannot observe in these three states, but it is more important to stay alive." Oil executives and analysts fear the security situation in the delta, a vast wetlands region where poor communities host a multi-billion dollar oil industry, could slip into anarchy as rival militias intensify their turf wars ahead of April polls. The EU will send 66 long-term observers to the other 33 states from Thursday to assess campaigning and preparations for the election, which should mark the first time one elected government hands over to another in 47 years of independence. A similar number of short-term EU observers and a delegation of seven members of the European Parliament will be deployed during the election period to monitor voting, counting and the tabulation of results, Berg said. The mission will issue a preliminary report after the vote on April 14 for state governors and legislators, and a second report after the election of a president and federal lawmakers on April 21. A full report will come three months after. The elections should mark the first civilian-to-civilian transition in the world's eighth biggest oil exporter since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960. Violence and ballot rigging have marred previous polls and political tensions are running high because of uncertainty over candidate lists and preparation for voting day. Scores of foreigners were abducted in January and February by armed groups operating in the southern delta, mostly for ransom, though some of the groups have made political demands. All known foreign hostages have since been released, but two Chinese men snatched by unknown gunmen in the southeastern state of Anambra on Saturday are still being held.
