Gunmen kidnap Chinese expats, kill police escort

 

Unknown gunmen have kidnapped four Chinese rail construction employees in Ogun State.

The gunmen also killed a police escort attached to the Chinese expatriates.

The incident which occurred on Wednesday, June 16, was confirmed by the Ogun State Police Command on Thursday. Further, the police disclosed that the attack took place at Alaagba village in Ogun state; with a spokesperson of the command, Abimbola Oyeyemi revealing that the Chinese workers were ambushed.

“Four Chinese nationals working at the construction site of the railway around Alaagba area were abducted by some gunmen who also shot dead their police escort,” he said.

In addition, Oyeyemi revealed that the police has launched a manhunt for the kidnappers to rescue the hostages.

President Muhammadu Buhari had commissioned the $2.5 billion, 157-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line last week. A number of Chinese firms and their nationals are working on the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects in Nigeria; which include mining, railways, airports and roads.

MuchTalksBlog reports that the latest abduction of the four Chinese expatriates continues a worrisome trend which has seen a number of expatriate workers targeted by kidnapping gangs for ransom. Many Nigerians have also been victims of a heightened wave of kidnapping for ransom; especially in the Northern part of the country where armed bandits have targeted students and young children.