The
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Thursday ruled out paying a ransom
as a long-held government standing for a New Zealander abducted a day earlier
by gunmen in Cross River State.
He
said at a press conference in Wellington that there was no chance of the
government paying a ransom for the release of New Zealander being held hostage
in Nigeria, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported yesterday.
Key
said the compromise would only put a bounty on the head of any New Zealander
working in a volatile region and make the situation worse.
The
contractors, comprising three Australians, a South African, a New Zealander and
two Nigerians working for an Australian mining company MacMahon, a contractor
of the cement major LafargeHolcim, early Wednesday morning were abducted when
about 30 gunmen attacked their convoy and killed their driver.
The
convoy was travelling under police escort when the attack unfolded, Nigerian
police commissioner Jimoh Ozi-Obeh told Australian media, but the gunmen
managed to escape. The kidnappers fled on a boat waiting on a beach near the
bridge.
Key
said it’s likely the kidnapping was randomly motivated rather than an act of a
terrorist organisation.
“The
kidnappers are yet to contact police or make any request.”
Also
speaking on the abduction, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the
Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria was at the scene, but New Zealand has
no diplomatic mission in the country limiting its capacity to coordinate the
rescue.
He
said the Australian mining company MacMahon, has been working with the Nigerian
government to resolve the situation, just as New Zealand Ministry of Foreign
Affairs was receiving updates on the situation.
Turnbull
also said the identity of the kidnappers who abducted his countrymen in
Akpabuyo, Cross River State was still unknown.
“We
don’t know at this stage the identity of the kidnappers and families in
Australia are notified, of course,” Turnbull said yesterday, interrupting
campaigning for a general election next week.
“It
is a very serious kidnapping, a very serious criminal assault,” he said.
According
to Reuters, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop didn’t say if the attack
was thought to be terrorism-related and said Australian authorities were
working with the Nigerian government to confirm details.
“We
are working very closely with the police, security and other agencies in Cross
River,” she said.
MacMahon,
the company whose staff were kidnapped, confirmed the incident after halting
trade on its shares, saying those kidnapped included the five Westerners and
two local staff, while a local employee had been killed.
“We
are working to ensure the safe return of all the men involved and are in
communication with their families,” the company said.
MacMahon
has two projects in Nigeria, including the Calabar cement quarry in Mfamosing,
near where the attack took place.
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