Gunmen kidnapped an oil-industry worker as he traveled to work Friday in Nigeria's southern oil region, police said.The man, an American, was snatched from his car shortly after dawn in the oil city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State Police Commissioner Felix Ogbaudu said. U.S. Embassy officials could not immediately confirm the man's nationality, and first reports of citizenship by police have been incorrect in the past.
Some 200 foreigners have been kidnapped this year in the restive southern region where crude is pumped in Africa's biggest oil producer. Militants behind a series of oil-installation attacks spearheaded the hostage takings, launching their latest campaign in late 2005.
But criminal kidnap gangs took up the practice this year, and now the seizure of foreigners, prominent Nigerians and their family members has become widespread in the southern Niger Delta. Hostages are usually released unharmed after a ransom is paid.
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