Indian kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria's oil region

Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped an Indian national in Nigeria's restive oil producing Delta region, the police said on Saturday.

The man, who works with a home building and property management company as the general manager, was kidnapped on Saturday, said Rita Abbey, the police spokesperson in Port Harcourt.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Abbey said the police had followed kidnappers in hopes of rescuing the man.

But the attempt by the police to trail the kidnappers and rescue the victim and another eight-month-old infant, who was kidnapped on Thursday, was not successful.

Officials at the Indian High Commission in Nigeria's Abuja region said they are monitoring the situation very closely and hoped that the security operatives will rescue the man whose name is yet to be disclosed.

Foreign workers in the Delta region have faced series of kidnappings that come with demand for large ransom by the abductors.

Several Indians have been kidnapped in the past with the most recent being a tanker crew worker Banjit Singh Dhindsa, who works for Sichem Peace, by members of the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

The ship was owned by Norway-based Eitzen Maritime Services ASA and was later released. The crews were also set free after some days.

The armed groups in the oil rich region claim to be fighting for resource control but criminal gangs often infiltrate their ranks to engage in robbery and kidnapping.