Nigeria: Gunmen briefly abduct six top government officials

(SomaliNet) Nigerian gunmen abducted six top officials of a government oil agency in the southwestern Ondo state but released them after a few hours, police said on Friday

\"The gunmen in speedboats ambushed the officials of Ondo State Oil Producing Area Commission and took them hostage on Thursday,\" senior police officer Sola Adegbehingbe said.

Adegbehingbe said the six men - the head of the agency and five commissioners - were released \"after spending a few hours in captivity\", but could not say if ransom was paid.

Oil-rich Nigeria has seen a spate of kidnappings of petroleum workers and relatives of prominent politicians in the past two years, often by criminal gangs seeking a ransom, but sometimes also for political ends.-AFP