New
Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, on Thursday ruled out paying a ransom
as a long-held government standing for a New Zealander abducted a day
earlier by gunmen in southern Nigeria.
He said at a press conference in
Wellington that there was no chance of the government paying a ransom
for the release of New Zealander being held hostage in Nigeria.
Key said the compromise would only put a
bounty on the head of any New Zealander working in a volatile region
and make the situation worse.
Gunmen took at least three foreign
contractors, including one New Zealander and two Australians working for
an Australian mining company early Wednesday morning and killed their
driver on the outskirts of Calabar.
Key said it’s likely the kidnapping was random motivated rather than an act of a terrorist organisation.
“The kidnappers are yet to contact police or make any request.
Meanwhile, The Australian Prime
Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the Australian High Commissioner in
Nigeria is at the scene while New Zealand has no diplomatic mission in
the country limiting its capacity to coordinate the rescue.
He said the Australian mining company
MacMahon, has been working with Nigerian government to resolve the
situation as New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs was receiving
updates on the situation.
Credit: NAN
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