PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen abducted a toddler in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday, shooting the family maid as she walked the child to school, police said.
"A toddler who was being walked to school was abducted by gunmen in a car and the maid was shot as she resisted," said Rita Inoma-Abbey, police spokeswoman for Rivers state, of which Port Harcourt is the capital.
She said the abduction took place in the Rumuokwuta area of central Port Harcourt. The nationalities of the child and the maid, who suffered gunshot wounds, were not immediately known.
There has been a surge in kidnappings in recent weeks in the oil-producing Niger Delta, targeting both foreign oil workers and prominent or wealthy Nigerians. Many of the hostages have been released unharmed after payment of a ransom.
(Reporting by Austin Ekeinde; Writing by Nick Tattersall)
