Gunmen suspected to be militants have abducted the wife of a senior Nigeria police officer, as the woman was conveying her children to school in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state in the restive, oil-producing Niger Delta region, police said.
According to Rivers Police Spokesperson Ireju Barasua, the incident happened Tuesday at the Mile 4 area of the volatile city.
The gunmen had blocked the car in which the wife and children of the unnamed Assistant Commissioner of Police were being ferried to the children's school, shooting sporadically to scare away people.
As motorists and pedestrians fled in different directions, the men dragged out the occupants of the car and pushed them into their sports utility vehicle before speeding away towards the East-West road, where they abandoned the children.
The police chief was not identified beyond the fact that he is currently serving at the Anambra police command in South-east Nigeria.
Abductions, attack on vessels as well as oil facilities have recently been on the rise in the Niger Delta, as militants stepped up their armed campaign for a better deal for the oil producing region.
The region's largest militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has vowed to cripple Nigeria's oil export this year.
MEND has so far claimed responsibility for a series of attacks, including those on oil vessels and fuel tankers, this year.
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