An Israeli construction worker, identified by the police as Ehud Arny, has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen from his residence in Nigeria’s main oil city of Port Harcourt, the police said. Rita Abbey, spokesperson for the Rivers state police command, of which Port Harcourt is the capital, said the Israeli was kidnapped at 10pm local time on Tuesday in the restive city.
She said Arny is the project manager of the Gilmore Construction firm based in the city, and that his driver had been arrested by the police as part of the investigations into the kidnapping, adding that no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction. Kidnappings are common in the violence-prone Niger Delta oil region, even though most of those kidnapped are usually released unharmed, most after the payment of ransom. The government blames the rising wave of kidnapping on criminal groups seeking to extort money from rich companies operating in the region.
