The three Indians kidnapped in Nigeria continue to be in captivity of their abductors even as the Indian government expressed hope that there will be progress on Tuesday in the ongoing negotiations for their release.

"There is no progress so far though negotiations are on. We can expect something on Tuesday," a senior Ministry of External Affairs official told PTI.

The government had on Sunday said there were some 'positive signs' in the negotiations with abductors and hoped the Indian nationals would be released today.

According to the ministry, the negotiations are being conducted by 'some private parties' on behalf of Indian and Nigerian governments. The government cannot deal with them directly as they were 'mere criminal elements without any political issue' and money was what all they want in ransom, the ministry said.

Three Indians, including two engineers working for a petrochemical company in Nigeria, were kidnapped on Sunday in the third incident of abduction of Indians in the West African state in recent weeks.

Debashish Kakoty, Sunil Dave and another unidentified Indian were abducted outside their residential complex in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria after gunfire that left one Nigerian dead.