Nigeria:The family of a three-year-old British girl abducted in Nigeria began negotiating her release yesterday with kidnappers who have threatened to kill her unless their ransom demands are met.
Margaret Hill was snatched on Thursday morning from the car in which she was being driven to school in Port Harcourt, in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
Abductions for ransom are frequent in the Niger Delta, although children have rarely been targeted. In several cases kidnappers have threatened to kill hostages but no such threat has been carried out and hostages are usually released unharmed in exchange for money.
The girl's mother, Oluchi Hill, said in the latest of several phone calls with the kidnappers, one had demanded money although the line had cut off before he specified an amount.
Speaking from her home in Port Harcourt, she said she had been allowed to talk to her daughter briefly. "She was crying. She said they gave her only water. She wants to come back," Ms Hill said, crying as she spoke. "He said he doesn't care about killing and burying the baby," she said.
Later, the parents issued a statement asking the media to let them work with others to try to quickly bring their daughter back safely.
Ms Hill, who is Nigerian, runs a popular bar in a relatively affluent neighbourhood of the city. The bar was attacked in August 2006 by armed men who kidnapped several expatriates.
About 200 adult expatriates have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta since the start of 2006 and 15 are still being held by various armed groups.
The abduction of Margaret Hill is the third child kidnapping this year, according to local media.
- (Reuters)