Irish engineer taken hostage in Nigeria

A 39-year-old Irishman has been taken hostage in Nigeria.

Bryan Fogarty from Oughterard in Co Galway was kidnapped along with two Britons and a Pole in Port Harcourt in Nigeria last night.

The four men were taken from a bar by local militia who fought a gun battle with police before making their getaway.

Mr Fogarty is a cement engineer with Haliburton and has previously worked in Nigeria for a number of years.

His brother Justin Fogarty said he hoped his brother wouldn’t come to any harm.

“For anything like this to happen, it’s extremely worrying,” he said. “We've the knowledge that he's with three other guys, so they all might work as a team and keep calm about the situation.

“I believe a lot of this goes on out there, but companies just pay a ransom.”

Mr Fogarty’s father Des said his son was out for the evening and in a bar when some gunmen came in and had a shootout, taking the ex-pats.

“They came outside where there was another little gun battle with some policemen that showed up, but eventually they absconded with the four hostages,” he told RTÉ radio.