Contacts began today to try to win the release of a British toddler seized by kidnappers who have threatened to kill her unless they are paid ransom.
Margaret Hill (3) was snatched yesterday morning from a car as she was being driven to school in Port Harcourt in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
Abductions for ransom are very frequent in the Niger Delta, although children are rarely taken.
Kidnappers have threatened to kill hostages before but have not done so and the victims are usually released unharmed in exchange for money.
The girl's mother Oluchi Hill said the kidnappers had called to demand money. The amount was not clear.
Speaking by telephone 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," Oluchi Hill said, weeping as she spoke.
The caller "said he doesn't care about killing and burying the baby", she said.
Later, the parents issued a statement through the Foreign Office in London asking media to let them work with others to try to quickly bring their daughter back safely.
The father, Mike Hill, is a British consultant who works in oil and gas and has lived in Port Harcourt for many years. Oluchi Hill, who is Nigerian, runs Goodfellas, a bar located in the relatively upscale GRA neighborhood of the city.
Goodfellas was attacked in August 2006 by armed men who kidnapped several expatriates. Ms Hill had the bullet holes in the ceiling of the bar painted over, but business slowed.
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. Most abductions are for ransom, although a few have been politically motivated.
The abduction of Margaret Hill is the third child kidnapping this year, according to local media.
Nigerian newspapers reported last month that the three-year-old son of a member of the Rivers state House of Assembly was kidnapped and handed back to the family unharmed in exchange for money. There were also reports earlier in the year of another child abduction for ransom.
Britain advised all its nationals on June 8th to leave three core states in the Niger Delta because of rising insecurity, including Rivers state, where Port Harcourt is located.