We Will Kill Girl and Come After You, Say Kidnappers
By RASHID RAZAQ, ROB SINGH
THE kidnappers of a three-year-old British girl seized in Nigeria threatened to kill her and then come after the parents if their demands are not met, her mother said today.
Margaret Hill, the daughter of expatriate Mike Hill, was abducted yesterday as she travelled to school by car in Port Harcourt.
Margarets mother, Oluchi Hill, said the kidnappers phoned yesterday morning and threatened to kill her daughter unless Mr Hill agreed to take the childs place.
She said they demanded a meeting in a town in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta, then allowed her to speak to her daughter who was crying.
Mrs Hill, a Nigerian national, said neither she nor the police could locate the town.
They say I can bring my husband to swap with the baby, she said. He wanted to go down for his baby but the police commander told him not to.
Mrs Hill said the kidnappers said they were feeding Margaret bread and water and threatened to kill the whole family. Police and diplomats were today working to help secure Margarets release.
She was grabbed by men who smashed the car window as the vehicle sat in heavy morning traffic, according to an official at the British High Commission. Mr Hill, who has lived in Nigeria for 10 years, is originally from Murton in Co Durham.
He is believed to run a bar which is frequented by the expatriate community. The Foreign Office has called for the immediate safe release of the girl.
We are in contact with her parents and are providing assistance, a spokeswoman said. High Commission officials are in contact with the Nigerian authorities. The British High Commission said it was unclear who was behind the kidnapping, but added that criminal gangs were usually to blame.
Kidnappings have become an almost weekly occurrence in the south of the country, where many foreign oil workers are based. More than a dozen foreigners are in captivity and more than 200 have been taken since the end of 2005.
Margarets abduction brings the total number of expatriate kidnappings in the Niger Delta this year to 150 20 of whom have been British. Hostages are generally released unharmed after a ransom is paid.
Despite the increasing kid-nappings, the targeting of women and children is uncommon, with attackers generally focusing on male employees of large oil companies.
The High Commission said the fact that a child had been kidnapped signalled a worsening of the situation.
The Foreign Office warns against all travel to the Niger Delta including Port Harcourt because of the very high risk of kidnapping, armed robbery and other armed attacks.
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