Four South Korean & Two Nigerians oil workers kidnapped

Four expatriates and two Nigerians working for the South Korean construction firm Hyundai Heavy Industries Limited were kidnapped in southern Nigeria, police said. “Some armed men went to a Korean company, Hyundai, located in a forest by the Atlantic Ocean beach, and kidnapped four expatriates and two Nigerians,” police spokesman Fidelis Odunna said.
Gangs have frequently abducted expatriates working in the oil-producing Niger Delta in ransom kidnappings, but Nigerians from wealthy families have increasingly become their targets in recent years.
Hyundai Heavy in Seoul confirmed the kidnappings, but said one of the Nigerians had apparently been released.
“The foreign ministry and the South Korean embassy in Nigeria are operating an emergency task force led by the ambassador,” the company said in a statement. “Related government agencies have held emergency meetings and are keeping in close contact with the Nigerian police authorities and the foreign ministry to ensure the safety and early release of the abductees,” it said.

27 oil workers rescued

A combined team of naval and army forces stormed the hideout of a militant gang operating on the waters of oil-producing Cross River State and rescued 27 abducted oil workers, navy spokesman, Lt. Commander Ajibola Olabisi.

 According to Olabisi, "It was a joint military operation involving the navy and the army. Twenty-seven oil workers were rescued, while one is still missing”. He said 28 workers of Sinopec, an oil-servicing company, had been kidnapped in Ikang near the state capital Calabar by an armed gang called the Lactop Marine Force. Members of the gang had been terrorizing residents of the area for a long time before the troops moved in to dislodge them.

Olabisi said that "the criminals fled as soon as our men stormed their hideout. Nobody was either killed or injured during the operation," he said, adding that the military were on the trail of the kidnappers.