Three Chinese nationals working in Nigeria’s north-central area were seized by gunmen, according to police, the latest incident in a cycle of violence in Africa’s most populous country.
Two Nigerians, who were working alongside the expats at a hydroelectric power plant under construction in Niger state, which borders Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, were also killed by the gunmen on Tuesday.
According to police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun, the employees were installing a transmission line tower at the factory in the village of Gussase when the gunmen arrived and began the fire.
“While four of the expatriates were rescued, a police tactical unit assigned to the site engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle,” Abiodun said, adding that one of the Chinese workers and two local workers were shot.
He said the three hostages were being sought in an “aggressive manhunt.”
Several foreigners have been abducted by criminal groups in Nigeria, while security forces have reduced the frequency of the crimes over time.
Workers in the oil-rich Niger Delta region in the south are the most frequently attacked. Hostage ransoms can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Chinese authorities issued travel advice in November, cautioning their residents and businesses against traveling to “high-risk” areas in Nigeria and other African countries.
Under President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired military commander who served as Nigeria’s military head of state from 1983 to 1985 before returning to office in 2015, the country’s security has deteriorated.
