Telecom workers kidnapped in Nigeria

Gunmen kidnapped five Chinese workers who were fixing overhead telephone lines in southern Nigeria, officials said.

Alex Nwiyor, a community leader who saw the attack outside the main southern oil hub of Port Harcourt yesterday, said a sixth worker escaped the gunmen, who wore military clothes and travelled in a minibus.

Irejua Barasua, a police spokeswoman in southern Rivers State, confirmed the details, saying the Chinese worked for a telecommunications firm fixing phone lines.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta region.