Kidnappers in south Nigeria abduct three Australians, New Zealander

A New Zealander and at least two Australians have been kidnapped in southern Nigeria by gunmen who killed their driver.

The trio are said to be contractors for cement company Lafarge Africa, Reuters reported.

The group were attacked on the outskirts of Calabar in the early morning (about 4.30pm yesterday, NZT).

A spokeswoman for Lafarge said its contractor in Nigeria, MacMahon, had alerted Lafarge Africa that a security incident had happened on the road from Calabar involving some of its employees.

The Australian mining giant MacMahon was working with government security agencies to resolve the situation.

The New Zealand Government confirmed a New Zealand citizen and a number of Australians working for an Australian mining company had been kidnapped.

The group was kidnapped after their driver was shot dead as he was taking them to work.The Nigerian Government said it was throwing everything it could behind the operation to secure the release of a New Zealand man, four other expats and two Nigerians.

They all worked for the Australian mining and engineering company Macmahon.

Nigerian Government spokesman Christian Ita said security services, the police and army were doing everything possible to ensure the release of the New Zealander and everyone else affected.

They knew where the group was being held, he said.

Christian Ita said it appeared a militant group was responsible but he was unaware of any demands for money.

The Government was hopeful the hostages would be released soon.

A witness told local newspaper, the Punch he was returning from his farm yesterday when he saw the kidnapping happen, near the Idundu Bridge, in the eastern part of the city of Calabar.

"These kidnappers came out from the bridge, shot the driver of the vehicle and took the victims away through the river.

"The vehicles conveying the expatriates and the two Nigerians were abandoned by the road-side with the dead body of the driver. From all indications, the expatriates were going to work at the Lafarge Holcim plant in Mfamosing.''

A spokeswoman for Cross River state police told the publication two of the men had since escaped, but she did not know their nationality.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said officials were in contact with the hostage's family.

A spokesman said the ministry continued to seek more information on the situation and was also in contact with Australian authorities as well as the mining company.

Given the sensitive nature of the situation the Ministry said it would not be commenting further.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said the minister was receiving updates on the situation as it unfolded.

The kidnappers are yet to contact police.

An MFat spokesman said 25 New Zealanders are registered with the government in Nigeria.

The MFat website said as there was no New Zealand diplomatic presence in Nigeria, so the ability for the government to provide assistance to citizens was severely limited, particularly in regions where travel was advised against.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has Nigeria has a extreme risk rating because of the threat from terrorism, kidnapping and violent crime.

It advises against all travel in the north and against all tourist and other non-essential travel throughout the rest of the country.

It says there is a high threat of kidnapping throughout Nigeria, but particularly in the north, where most of the recent kidnappings had happened.

Expatriate workers at oil and gas facilities were at particular risk of kidnapping as the crimes were often financially motivated.

New Zealanders working in the northern states against Government advice were advised to seek professional security advice and take appropriate personal security measures at all times.

Another high-profile kidnapping involving a New Zealander was that of Mary Quin, who in 1998 was in a tour group that was taken hostage by armed and masked militants in Yemen.

Palmerston North-born Dr Quin, now a member of the board of Westpac NZ, was one of 16 tourists taken hostage by the group, who used them as shields in a gun battle between the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army and Yemeni troops.

Dr Quin managed to flee after she ripped an AK-47 from a kidnapper.

She later wrote the book Kidnapped in Yemen about her ordeal.

Kidnapping, a long-standing problem in Nigeria

Kidnapping for ransom has been a long-standing problem in southern Nigeria, particularly in the oil-producing delta region, where criminal gangs target wealthy Nigerians and expatriate workers.

Most are usually released after the payment of a ransom.

In the 2000s, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) took foreign employees of oil companies in the delta hostage in exchange for ransom.

University of Waikato Professor of international law, Alexander Gillespie, said kidnappings in Nigeria were quite common.

"There has been over 200 kidnappings since 2006 and the vast majority of kidnappings are from groups who ransom people for money," he said.

"People are stolen to order or people are stolen to sell. So each Westerner, on average, could be worth over $1 million. If you're in north Africa, it could be up to $2 million. They're worth a huge amount of money."

Professor Gillespie said the motive could be about pushing a religious cause or purely about getting money.

"If it's about money, then you would see a negotiation process going on."

However, New Zealand's policy is to not negotiate with captors.

"If you negotiate, you create an incentive for your own citizens to become targets in other countries."

Professor Gillespie acknowledged that it is possible that those involved are linked to Boko Haram, the terrorist group behind the infamous kidnapping of more than 200 women and girls in April, 2014.

The Nation reported that kidnapping for ransom has grown to a frightening level in Nigeria, and ordinary people are potential victims and perpetrators.

It said "a recent unofficial report put the annual figure in at well over 1000" cases. From militant groups, the problem has extended to kidnapping syndicates and ordinary criminals.

"There have been reported cases of people stage-managing their own kidnappings in connivance with supposed kidnappers and later sharing the ransom after it had been paid by their family."

The Nation reported that in 2013, housewife and trader Nancy Chukwu was arrested by the police in Enugu State after she allegedly faked her own kidnapping to demand a N200,000 ($980) ransom from her husband.

Piracy is also an issue in Nigeria. Business Day reports that in February‚ a South African container ship's captain was hailed a heroine after she outsmarted a gang of pirates off the Nigerian coast. Zetta Gous-Conradie and her crew came under attack when pirates boarded the ship and opened fire on the bridge.

The captain ordered her crew to take cover in the engine room‚ while she alerted the Nigerian Navy‚ and kept everyone calm even as the pirates tried to force their way in‚ until help arrived.

-AFP, Business Day, The Nation

Armed groups in Nigeria

The two main areas of unrest are in the north where Boko Haram has been fighting for an Islamic state and in the Niger Delta where rebels steal oil and attack infrastructure

Boko Haram
• Islamic militants based in the north who have killed, kidnapped and displaced millions of people for seven years.

Niger Delta Avengers
• Emerged in February and is the most active group in the south, sabotaging Nigeria's oil infrastructure for months with bombings of pipelines and facilities. Wants a fairer share of oil revenues for the impoverished and polluted southern region. Targeted Shell and Chevron in May. Matthew Bey, an Africa energy analyst at Stratfor, told ABC News: "It seems to be a new generation of militant groups."

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
• Wreaked havoc in the creeks and rivers of the delta from 2006 to 2009, costing the nation roughly one-third of its oil production. The rebels were bought off in a government-brokered amnesty deal in 2009. A prominent leader of the group was Tompolo, real name Government Ekpemupolo, who was declared wanted on multi-million-dollar corruption charges. The Niger Delta Avengers group is thought to involve Tompolo's supporters. But Tompolo has previously said he is not part of the group. Mend condemned Avengers attacks in May.

Red Egbesu Water Lions
• A new group, according to ABC News, with similar aims to Niger Delta Avengers

Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force
• A new group. Said it would hit "all those infrastructures that were built with our oil and gas monies in this country".

Sandy Beckett is a former road policing boss. Photo / Amos Chapple

He was driving with other multinationals when armed gang members jumped out of the jungle.

However, thanks to his quick-thinking actions, he managed to drive them to safety.

"I was too close to stop and turn around so I changed gear and accelerated to the nearest gang member who was one of three carrying AK47s. I had no intention of stopping and they jumped out of the way and melted back into the jungle. It was pretty scary stuff."

Mr Beckett, who is now based in Australia and contracts as a road enforcement specialist around the world, was in Nigeria delivering a road safety strategies to Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corps.

"I would be concerned for their whereabouts because while they have been taken by a group, possibly like [Islamic extremists] Boko Haram, they will be held to ransom I'd say. If they kill them they can't do it again because the companies and insurance companies wouldn't pay any ransom. So once the money is paid there's a high likelihood they will be released somewhere."He believes the victims of the latest kidnapping will be released if the ransom is paid.

He believes the group would most likely have been followed for some time before they were kidnapped.

"These guy that came out and had a crack at me in the jungle would have known for weeks and weeks that they were going to target me."

He says Nigeria is a "crazy place" with locals thinking any white person was a "rich American".

"I don't think it was anything to do with race, but everybody there thought I was a big rich American. They all think you're a rich American and then you become a target, it doesn't matter what you say to them."

He says the country's road toll was the worst in the world. Officials "estimate" at least 30,000 people die each year -- however, that was just the deaths police were made aware of.

A Nigerian soldier walks near a damaged army vehicle at the Bosso military camp following attacks by Boko Haram terrorists in the region, June 17, 2016. (File photo by AFP)

At least three Australian nationals and an Australian resident have been kidnapped in a deadly ambush raid by unknown gunmen in southern Nigeria, Australia’s prime minister has announced.

“These are the facts as we know them: three Australians and one Australian resident were among seven people kidnapped in an attack on an Australia contractor’s operations in Nigeria. One person was killed in the attack,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters on Thursday.

He added that the Australian resident is a New Zealander by origin.

According to a statement by the Nigerian police, the incident occurred when a group of about 30 unidentified armed men attacked the workers’ vehicle on the outskirts of the port city of Calabar, the capital of Cross River State in the Niger Delta region, at around 5:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) on Wednesday.

According to witnesses, the gunmen first shot and killed the local driver on the spot and dragged the abductees to waiting boats.

There are conflicting reports on the nationalities of the three other victims, but police said at least two of them were Nigerians.

Meanwhile, Irene Ugbo, a spokeswoman for Cross River State police, said that two of the non-expatriate abductees have managed to flee, without giving more details.

The file photo shows a Lafarge Africa’s cement mixer at the company’s factory in Nigeria.

The workers had been employed by Perth-based Australian mining and engineering company Macmahon Holdings, which itself is a contractor to cement company Lafarge Africa.

“It is a very serious kidnapping, a very serious criminal assault,” Turnbull, the Australian premier, further said, adding “We don’t know at this stage the identity of the kidnappers and families in Australia are notified of course.”

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that authorities in Australia were working with the Nigerian government to confirm the details of the attack and find ways to rescue the kidnapped individuals.

Viola Graham-Douglas, a spokeswoman for Lafarge Africa, also said on Wednesday that “Macmahon is working with the security agencies to resolve this situation.”

No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the attack and abductions.

It is unlikely for the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group — which is active in the northern and northeastern parts of Nigeria — to have been involved in the raid.

Thus, local criminal gangs, which kidnap foreigners for ransom, may be to blame.

Kidnapping for ransom has been a long-standing problem in southern Nigeria, particularly in the oil-producing delta region, where criminal gangs target wealthy Nigerians and expatriate workers.

Most are usually released after the payment of a ransom.

A New Zealander and at least two Australians have been kidnapped in southern Nigeria by gunmen who killed their local driver.

In the 2000s, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) took foreign employees of oil companies in the Niger Delta hostage in exchange for ransom. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2006, according to the Nation.

The Nation reports that kidnapping for ransom has since grown to a "frightening level" in Nigeria with ordinary people potential victims and perpetrators.

It says "a recent unofficial report put the annual figure in at well over 1000" cases.

"There have been reported cases of people stage-managing their own kidnappings in connivance with supposed kidnappers and later share the ransom after it had been paid by their family."From militant groups the problem has extended to kidnapping syndicates and ordinary criminals.

ABOUT NIGERIA
1 Nigeria is on the Gulf of Guinea in Africa
2 The capital of the country is Abuja and currency the Nigerian naira
3 More than 173.6 million people live in the country and English is the official language
4 The President is Muhammadu Buhari who took over from Goodluck Jonathan

The Nation reports that in one case in 2013, a woman was arrested by the police in Enugu after she allegedly faked her own kidnapping to demand a ransom from her husband. Nancy Chukwu, a housewife and trader, conspired with a man to stage her abduction and asked for N200,000 as ransom.

Piracy is also an issue in Nigeria.

Business Day reports that in February‚ a South African ship's captain was hailed as a heroine after she outsmarted a gang of pirates off the Nigerian coast.

Zetta Gous-Conradie and her crew on a container ship had come under attack when pirates boarded the ship and opened fire on the bridge. The captain ordered her crew to take cover in the engine room‚ while she alerted the Nigerian Navy‚ and kept everyone calm until help arrived.

A New Plymouth rig worker who was kidnapped at gunpoint by Nigerian raiders nine years ago says rescuing the hostages comes down to the ransom being paid.

A New Zealander, three Australians and a South African were abducted in Nigeria's southeast on Wednesday.

The foreign mine workers, who were employed by Perth-based mining firm Macmahon Holdings, were travelling in four vehicles accompanied by security guards and police when they were ambushed near a bridge on the outskirts of the city of Calabar.

In 2007, Bruce Klenner, 56, was among a group of six workers - including fellow Kiwi Brent Goddard - who were woken by gunfire and the doors of their rooms on the barge-mounted rig being blown up during the early hours of July 4.

Mr Klenner's wife, Linda, says news of another Kiwi possibly being taken as a hostage in south Nigeria just brought all of their own grief back and she worries for the families now involved.

"It was just me and the girls at home, of course, and it just really wore ... we had people ringing from everywhere, the phone was off the hook, it was all over the news ... it was pretty full on ... I'm just remembering now actually and it was just hell, I couldn't sleep for eight days, I couldn't, you just jump every time the phone rings."
Mrs Klenner says during the hostage period it took a couple of days before she knew that her husband was still alive."This has made it all come boom, straight back at us ... I feel really sorry for those people, they're about to go through hell."

Mr Klenner says he feels for the families involved, too.

"You feel for the family back here and I sort of know roughly what he'd be going through as well."

He says the chances of them being freed depended on a lot of circumstances but it was mostly to do with money.

"Hopefully it's good, if they've got good negotiators helping things along but at the end of the day it all boils down to money. Once they cough up with the goods, with the money, they're all good."

Mr Klenner says he and the rest of the hostages were kept in a hut in the middle of the jungle and were fed twice a day, their "slap up meals" consisting of spam and eggs.

"We never got mistreated so hopefully these fullas are on the same sort of wave length and everything is going okay for them."

Mr Klenner says the kidnappers had to look after them to ensure they got paid their ransom - if any hostages died there would be havoc.

"If [death] happens their whole village would get annihilated just about most probably - there's a lot of payback."

Mrs Klenner says it's been a long road to get her husband back on track - even though he was back at work four weeks later.

"The worst part was when Bruce came home. It's taken him so long to get right - we'd go for a walk or to the kids swimming sports and those cap guns would go off and he'd just jump, and we'd have to leave. The post traumatic stress was just massive."

Once Mr Klenner arrived back in New Zealand his employer Lonestar Drilling washed their hands of him, she says, and failed to give him his last month's worth of wages, which just added to the family's strain.

Mr Klenner says the company was contracted by oil giant, Shell, who could have paid the outstanding wages, but they didn't.

"They could have come to the party if they wanted to but obviously they didn't want to."

He continues to work around the world on rigs in countries including Tunisia, Spain, Libya, Indonesia and South America.

"You've got to, you've still got to put food on the table. I think I was home 4 1/2 weeks and I went back to work. You still got mortgages to pay and you still got bills coming in, you got to keep going. It just took a while to adjust."