Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese construction worker in the southern Nigerian oil industry hub of Port Harcourt on Monday, police and a private security source in the city said.
"A Lebanese was kidnapped by gunmen this morning but our men are on their trail," police spokeswoman Rita Inoma-Abbey said.
The security source said the man was employed by an engineering company which is working on a road project in the Choba suburb of Port Harcourt, the main city in the Niger Delta, which is home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.
The region has long been racked by insecurity, particularly since militants launched a campaign of violent sabotage against the oil industry two years ago to push for a greater share of the wealth generated by five decades of oil extraction.
Heavily-armed criminal gangs, funded by a lucrative trade in stolen oil, have taken advantage of the breakdown in law and order to stage robberies and kidnappings for ransom.
Several hundred foreigners have been seized since early 2006 but most have been released unharmed.
(Reuters)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment