Two South Africans have been abducted in Nigeria, the South African government confirmed on Wednesday.
They were abducted in the Niger Delta on Tuesday, said foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
He said this had been officially confirmed to South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria Stix Sifingo by Nigerian authorities.
Sifingo was in contact with the office of Nigeria’s national security adviser and was also maintaining close contact with the men’s employer.
”High Commissioner Sifingo and his consular officials will continue to do everything in their power, working with the Nigerian authorities and employer, to help find a speedy and amicable resolution to the matter,” said Mamoepa
He said foreign affairs officers in Pretoria would render consular assistance to the men’s families.
Sifingo had appealed to South Africans in Nigeria to register their presence there by contacting the South African missions in Abuja and Lagos, said Mamoepa.
Earlier, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that one of the kidnapped men was 36-year-old Dan Laarman, a professional diver who worked on an oil rig in Nigeria.
He had been on his way to the oil rig with a group of 13 people when they were all kidnapped on Tuesday.
His mother, Ingrid, told the broadcaster that Laarman’s company had received a ransom demand and negotiations would begin later on Wednesday.
She said Laarman’s boss was kidnapped last year and released after a ransom was paid. — Sapa