15 children kidnapped as school bus hijacked

Gunman have hijacked a school bus in Nigeria's Abia state, on the fringes of the oil-producing Niger Delta, and kidnapped 15 youngsters.

Police said the incident occurred early on Monday while the nursery and primary students were being driven to the Abayi International School in the southern state's commercial capital, Umuahia.

State police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna said: "The 15 students were being conveyed to school by the driver and the teacher that normally accompanies them when they were abducted. The kidnappers are demanding a ransom from the proprietress of the school."

Local media reported a ransom demand of 20 million naira (about 81,000) had been made.

Kidnapping of foreign oil workers and Nigerian civilians is relatively common in the delta region, which has been riven for years by militias demanding a bigger share from central government of the area's oil wealth.

However, an amnesty that came into effect in the delta last year has reduced the overall levels of violence that curbed the output of Africa's largest crude oil producer.

However, three French oil workers were abducted in a raid an offshore drilling ship last week, and the seizure of a large number of children is a worrying departure by the criminal gangs that also roam the region.