Nigerian gunmen kidnap foreigners

Unidentified gunmen have seized an American and a British man in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, police say.

The two construction workers were heading to work when gunmen abducted them, a police spokesman said.

Nearly 100 foreign hostages, mostly oil workers, have recently been kidnapped in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Many Niger Delta residents live in poverty, and taking hostages for ransom has become increasingly common.

The instability in the region has cut Nigeria's oil production by at least 20%, costing the country some $4.4bn (£2.2bn) last year, according to the government.

The kidnapped duo were employees of PIVOT GIS, an engineering and construction services company working in Rivers State, police spokesman Haz Iwendi told the BBC News website.

Police say they have no leads yet on the identity of the kidnappers and none of the usual armed hostage-takers in the restive region has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's abduction .

The Nigerian navy has been staging military exercises designed to be a show of force amid the rising wave of attacks and kidnappings.

But to the west, on the river not far from the city of Warri, a merchant ship and its crew of 24 Filipinos is still being held hostage by an armed group.

Elections

In terms of kidnappings, the last time it was this bad for so long was four years ago and Nigeria then, as now, was preparing to go the polls, says the BBC's Alex Last in Lagos.

He says that aside from the usual kidnapping for ransom, politics and the election is increasingly a factor.

The group holding the Filipinos have been demanding the release of militant leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

But most tellingly, they also want the governing party's candidate for governor in their state to be changed.

In the past politicians have made alliances with armed groups to help them win at the polls.

So now is clearly a good time for those with guns to show what they can do, our reporter says.