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Boy, 17, kidnapped in Nigeria
01/02/2008 11:29 - (SA)
Lagos - Gunmen have kidnapped a 17-year-old boy in southern Nigeria and demanded a ransom for his release, say police.
"The boy was abducted from his parents' compound at Abonnema yesterday by an armed gang, which asked for money in exchange for release," said a senior police officer in Rivers state.
The boy was related to an unnamed federal parliamentarian in the state, he said.
The kidnappers left telephone numbers with the boy's parents to contact them when they are ready to pay the ransom, he said. The amount was not disclosed.
"We are intensifying efforts to secure the release of the boy," he said.
Thursday's incident was the latest kidnapping of relatives of prominent Nigerians in the restive Niger Delta, where militant gangs had stepped up violent attacks on Nigeria's oil industry since January 2006.
Instability and violence in the Niger Delta slashed by a quarter oil output in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest crude exporter, in 2006 and 2007 to 2.1 million barrels per day, according to the latest estimates.
In 2007, more than 200 foreign workers were taken hostage, often being released after a ransom was paid.
As oil companies had stepped up security measures around their personnel in the region, the armed groups had increasingly targeted relatives of wealthy or prominent Nigerians.
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