LAGOS — Gunmen have kidnapped an official from Nigeria's oil industry regulator in the southern city of Port Harcourt, the latest in a long list of abductions to hit the region, police said on Tuesday.

Olabode Omosegbon, an official from the Department of Petroleum Resources, was kidnapped on Sunday in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State and a major oil industry hub, they said.

"Since his kidnap we have no news about him. We have not established contact yet with his kidnappers, but we are trying to locate his whereabouts," Rivers State police spokeswoman Rita Abbey told AFP.

She said the oil worker was abducted by gunmen who were operating in a taxi.

A spokeswoman for the victim's agency, Belema Osibu, also confirmed the kidnap, but could provide no further details.

Hundreds of people, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped in the region since 2006.

Some kidnappings been carried out by militants seeking a fairer distribution of oil revenue, while criminal gangs seeking ransom payments have been responsible for others.

Gunmen kidnapped four journalists and their driver on July 11 in the oil-rich but volatile Niger Delta region. The journalists were released unhurt a week later, and police said no ransom was paid.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ikq0PycBpByNEcNyMVnuGgNB_QvQ

Why is this a news? All the citizens of Nigeria are kidnapped people.

Viaguru:

Why is this a news? All the citizens of Nigeria are kidnapped people.

My ransom has not been paid - it is nowused to fight Boko-Haram

Na wa oh. they are kidnapping naijas too? Thought it was only foreign workers.