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A 3-YEAR-OLD Nigerian boy was kidnapped in the oil-producing Niger Delta yesterday, four days after a British girl of the same age was freed by her kidnappers.
Police said Francis Samuel Amadi was snatched while being taken to school by the family driver in the morning. The kidnappers blocked the car with their own and seized the toddler, leaving the driver behind.
The boy is the son of Eze Francis Amadi, a traditional ruler in the community of Iriebe on the outskirts of Port Harcourt, the delta's main city. Kidnappings for ransom are common in the Niger Delta but until recently it was rare for children to be seized. This is the third child abduction in six weeks.
Earlier this week, unknown ransom-seekers freed 3-year-old Margaret Hill unharmed after four days in captivity. Gunmen had snatched the toddler from the car in which she was being driven to school in Port Harcourt.
- Reuters
