Seoul - A group of 12 workers, including three South Koreans, were kidnapped by unidentified militants at a construction site in Nigeria Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said. The workers were attacked overnight and taken following a 40-minute shootout between the insurgents and Nigerian security guards at a power plant construction site, reported Yonhap news agency. There were reportedly casualties though no details were available.
Also taken hostage were eight Filipinos and a Nigerian driver who all worked for South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction in in Rivers State in the oil-rich Niger Delta area.
Local authorities are attempting to identify the kidnappers, who have yet to make any demands.
Though there have been frequent kidnappings of foreign workers in the area in recent years they are usually an attempt to disrupt oil production in Nigeria, the continent's largest oil producer.
In January nine South Korean workers for Daewoo were taken hostage by a group of unidentified militants. They were released after 60 hours in captivity.
