Nine Koreans Kidnapped in Nigeria

Unidentified armed militants abducted nine Korean employees of Daewoo Engineering and Construction, who had been working in Nigeria, Africa, at 4:50 a.m. (local time) on January 10.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Daewoo E&C confirmed nine Koreans including Daewoo official Han Sang-ho (45) and one local employee were kidnapped at the site of a gas pipeline in Bayelsa State in Nigeria’s southern oil-producing Niger Delta.

The abductees were working on a pipeline supplying natural gas from the ocean in Niger Delta.

An official from the Korean Embassy to Nigeria said in a phone interview, “No casualties have been reported. Still, the identity or other information of the gunmen is still not known.”

The ministry announced that it would ensure the safe release of the captives by establishing a government taskforce led by Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and holding an emergency meeting.

On June 6, 2006, three employees of Daewoo E&C and two employees of Korea Gas Corporation were held hostage and released two days later by a rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

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