LAGOS: Gunmen sporting military uniforms kidnapped four Lebanese road construction workers in an attack that left at least two dead in oil rich southern Nigeria, a security source said on Saturday.
The four — workers of Stemco construction firm, two of them senior managers — were seized at Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom, one of Nigeria’s nine oil-producing states.
Akwa Ibom neighbours Rivers state, the oil hub of the restive oil-producing Niger Delta region, and Abia state which has this year recently recorded the most kidnappings.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
Security sources said a soldier and a member of the gang of kidnappers were killed in an exchange of gunfire at Ikot Ekepne town, which is close to Aba, the capital of Abia state.
Hundreds of foreigners and locals have been kidnapped in recent years in Nigeria, most of them in the Niger Delta.
Initially, oil workers in the region were targeted for kidnapping but other expatriates and local politicians or their relatives have been increasingly targeted.
Many have been released unharmed, but in some cases only after payment of ransom.
Akwa Ibom state government expressed "deep concern over the recent spate of kidnapping and abduction."
"In the last 48 hours, Akwa Ibom State has been under siege by kidnappers and criminal elements who have unleashed attacks on innocent citizens and especially, expatriates working on state government" projects, said deputy state governor, Patrick Ekpotu in a statement.
