Saturday, 07 Jul 2007 18:57
The Niger Delta seen from space
The three-year-old British child kidnapped by Nigerian militants will be freed if her parents pay a ransom, her mother has said.
Oluchi Hill told the BBC that the kidnappers had contacted her and demanded that a ransom be paid after Nigerian police rejected an exchange between the girl, Margaret Hill, and her father.
Margaret was snatched by gunmen in Port Harcourt at 07:30 BST on Thursday after they ambushed the car she was going to school in.
Her abduction has attracted criticism from the main militant group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend).
"We are involved with the search for these criminals and will mete out adequate punishment when we eventually catch up with them," a spokesperson for the group told the Reuters news agency.
"As in all societies, there is crime in the delta. This is separate from our agitation and must not be confused with militancy."
The Foreign Office has called for the "immediate safe release" of the girl.
"We do not know who took her and there has been no claim of responsibility," a spokesman said.
He added that British Embassy staff were in touch with the family and were in "urgent contact" with Nigerian authorities.
The oil-rich Niger Delta has seen over 100 foreigners kidnapped this year. Kidnappings of foreigners in Nigeria are common and the country's British high commission had urged British travelers not to visit the troubled region in a statement released in June.
Margaret's father, who comes from Murton in Durham, is a British national who has been living in Nigeria for the last ten years.