Unknown gunmen have attacked and snatched five foreign workers from an oil rig in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, security sources say.
The attack comes a day after the main militant group in the area said it had called off a month-long truce.
But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) says it has nothing to do with this new attack.
The hostages - two New Zealanders, an Australian, a Venezuelan and a Lebanese - were captured in Soku, Rivers state.
Kiwis Brent Goddard and Bruce Klenner were taken hostage at gunpoint along with three others from a Shell oil rig at Soku on the Niger Delta on Wednesday. The others are: Jason Lane from Australia, George Saliba of Lebanon and Andreas Gambra from Venezuela.
Their employer, Lone Star, understands the kidnapped men are unharmed at this stage.
Mr Goddard's partner, Gilly Sannazzaro, says she has always been concerned for his safety, and has been in regular contact with Lone Star. She received a call from Nigeria at 10.30am on Thursday (NZ time), saying contact had been made with the kidnappers, but no demands had been made yet.
Ms Sannazzaro says Mr Goddard began working in Nigeria this year and was enjoying it. He had returned there two weeks ago.
The wife of Bruce Klenner says she was aware of the risks of working in Nigeria. However, Linda Klenner says she remains hopeful that he is okay.
Mrs Klenner says the managing director of Lone Star is very upset at the kidnapping and is doing all he can to free the men.
Both women and their families say they will be staying close to the phone over the next few days as efforts continue to secure the release of the men.
NZ working with consulates
Prime Minister Helen Clark says New Zealand is working with the Australian and British governments, who have consulates in Nigeria, to find more information about what has happened to the five men.
She says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has contacted the men's families to offer advice and support.
Miss Clark says she understands other New Zealanders are working in similar jobs in Nigeria and is urging them to make sure their companies have appropriate safety arrangements in place.
Money seen as motive
New Zealand's High Commissioner for Nigeria, Jonathan Hunt, says money is likely to be the motive for the kidnapping.
New Zealander Frank Brindle, who has worked as an oil engineer in Nigeria, says kidnapping has become an increasing hazard for oil workers in Nigeria. He says kidnappers there were originally politically motivated, but they are increasingly more interested in receiving a ransom.
Mr Brindle says the official line from oil companies is that they do not pay ransoms, but usually money is paid - often after negotiations via the families.
An estimated 200 foreigners, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped in the region since the beginning of 2006. More than 100 foreigners have been taken hostage so far this year alone in the region.
The hostages are usually released unharmed after ransom payments that the Nigerian government and oil companies involved always deny.
Nigerian Navy and Militants Clash (BBC)
Earlier on Monday, another clash between the militants and the Nigerian Navy also left two junior officers missing and a gunboat destroyed.
"Two of our men are missing, but we are currently searching for them," Nigerian Navy spokesman Capt Obiora Medani told the BBC News website.
On Tuesday, Mend announced that it would not extend its month-long ceasefire called to give the new government a chance to set up talks on the restive region.
The group said it had been kept on the sidelines of government-led talks about the future of the highly impoverished Niger Delta.
It also warned it would resume its attacks on oil installations and the kidnappings of foreign oil workers.
The militants are campaigning for larger control of revenues coming from oil exploration in their region.
Although the Niger Delta accounts for over 90% of Nigeria's income, the region remains highly impoverished, a situation the militants say they want to change with their campaign.
Second Toddler Kidnapped in Port Harcourt (AP, Vanguard)
Kidnappers snatched the 3-year-old daughter of an expatriate worker as she was being taken to school Thursday in Nigeria's restive southern oil region, police said.
The child taken in the oil city of Port Harcourt is British, said Rivers state police spokeswoman Irejua Barasua. British Embassy officials were not reachable for comment, and early reports of nationalities given by security forces have been wrong in the past. Barasua had no more immediate details.
Criminal kidnappings have become common in the region, where the crude in Africa's biggest producer is pumped. More than a dozen foreigners are currently in captivity and more than 200 have been taken since the end of 2005.
The targeting of women and children is uncommon, however, with attackers generally focusing on male employees of large, international companies that are presumed to have money for ransom payments.
Hostages are generally released unharmed after a ransom is paid - often by state governments that control huge, unregulated security slush funds, according to industry officials. At least two hostages have been killed in the crossfire when security forces crossed the kidnappers.
On Wednesday, gunmen attacked an oil rig in the southern oil heartland and seized five expatriate workers - an Australian, two New Zealanders, one Lebanese and one Venezuelan. Royal Dutch Shell said it owned the rig, but that there were no production cuts reported.
The two New Zealanders were identified as Bruce Klenner and Brent Goddard by Klenner's wife, Linda.
The New Zealand government has ruled out paying any ransom for the pair.
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