British Girl Kidnapped in Nigeria, Police Say

A three-year-old British girl has been kidnapped at gunpoint in the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt, the country's police said today.

The child, named as Margaret Hill, was snatched in a traffic jam as she was driven to school, according to a police spokeswoman.

Diplomatic sources in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, said initial reports suggested the child had a British father and Nigerian mother, although neither the British embassy nor the Foreign Office have confirmed this.

In some previous abduction cases, details given by Nigerian authorities early on have turned out to be inaccurate.

Kidnappings of foreign oil workers for ransom are common in Port Harcourt, located in the oil-producing Niger Delta in southern Nigeria. Abductions of children are rare, although the local media reported that this was the third such case this year.

Last month, Nigerian newspapers reported that the three-year-old child of a local politician had been kidnapped but later returned unharmed in exchange for money. There were also reports of another child having been abducted for ransom earlier in the year.

Since the start of 2006, around 200 adult expatriates have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta, with some 100 of the abductions happening this year.

Most victims are released after a few days once a ransom has been paid, but armed groups are still holding 15 hostages. Although criminal gangs are behind most of the kidnappings, a few abductions have been politically motivated.

Several armed groups in the Niger Delta are campaigning for "resource control" - the right of impoverished local communities to have greater say over local oil revenues.

Abductions have become increasingly frequent, with copycat kidnappers taking advantage of the breakdown of law and order in the area to extort hefty ransoms.

Although foreign oil workers have been the main targets, armed groups have become increasingly indiscriminate, seizing workers from the construction and telecom industries as well as the owners of small businesses.

According to oil industry officials, ransoms are often paid by regional state governments that control huge and unregulated security slush funds.

Although most victims are released unharmed, at least two hostages were killed in crossfire when security forces engaged kidnappers.

Yesterday, gunmen attacked an oil rig in the Niger Delta and seized five expatriate workers - one Australian, two New Zealanders, one Lebanese and one Venezuelan.

The government of the recently elected president, Umaru Yar'Adua, is trying to calm the oil region. Mr Yar'Adua has sent his deputy, who is from the Niger Delta, to hold talks on a wider solution.