17th December, 2012
Four South Korean and two Nigerian workers at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Construction Yard in Brass, Bayelsa state, have been kidnapped by gunmen.
“At about 15:30 (1430 GMT) today, some armed men went to a Hyundai location in a forest by the Atlantic Ocean beach and kidnapped four expatriates and two Nigerians,” Bayelsa police spokesman Fidelis Odunna told reporters.
“The police are going to beef up security around all companies that have expatriates,” he said.
One witness described how the abduction was carried out in an interview with AFP: A fisherman, Tare Kolugha, said he witnessed the abductions as the workers were travelling to their workplace in southern Bayelsa state.
“We were on the waters fishing close to Odioma Creek when we noticed two … boats with armed men (who) shot into the air and stopped the passenger boat conveying the Hyundai workers to their yard,” Kolugha told AFP.
Kidnapping is rife in Nigeria, making millions of dollars a year for criminal gangs. It is common across the south, especially in the Niger Delta oil region.
Gunmen abducted two Lebanese men working for Nigerian construction company Setraco in Delta state last week, and killed a soldier protecting them.
The 82-year-old mother of Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was kidnapped on December 9 in Delta state but was freed five days later after a military search.
Titilayo, the wife of Brigadier General Oluwole Rotimi was kidnapped in Ibadan, Oyo state last week Monday.
And in Owerri, Imo state, Npllywood actress Nkiru Sylvanus was also kidnapped Sunday.
Kidnappings tend to surge in December, when the criminals need money for year-end festivities.