Germans kidnapped in Nigeria

2008-07-11 21:39

Ufford Wilson

Port Harcourt - Gunmen stormed a construction company compound on Friday and kidnapped two German nationals, police and company officials said.

The two were employed by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, which is affiliated with German construction giant Bilfinger Berger, said Rivers State police spokesperson Rita Inoma-Abbey.

The pair were taken at gunpoint by armed men who entered the company's compound just after dawn in Rumuji, outside the oil hub city of Port Harcourt.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, she said.

Bilfinger Berger spokesperson Sascha Bamberger confirmed that two German employees are missing in Nigeria and that the company is in contact with both German and Nigerian authorities.

A police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, told The Associated Press that around 30 gunmen arrived on three buses and used dynamite to blow the gate off the compound. He said a soldier was killed and two injured in the raid.

Kidnappings are common in this West African country's oil-producing Niger river delta region. They have mostly ended peacefully after ransom payments, although deaths and injuries have occurred when security forces battle kidnappers.

Nigeria's main militant group said on Thursday it would resume attacks in the country's oil-rich delta region because of a British pledge to help support the government in ending the conflict there.

Militants are agitating for more of the petroleum funds to be spent developing the impoverished region. Attacks on oil industry infrastructure in the past two years have slashed Nigeria's oil output by almost a quarter, helping push worldwide crude prices to historic highs.

Nigeria is Africa's top oil producer and is routinely ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

- AP