The assailants grabbed the human resources manager for Agip, a subsidiary of Italian oil giant Eni SpA, as he drove to work, said Rivers state police spokesperson Irejua Barasua. Agip had no immediate official comment.

The incident is the latest in a string of bombings and kidnappings against the petroleum industry across the volatile Niger Delta region, where the crude is pumped in Africa"s oil giant.

Nearly 100 foreigners have been seized since the beginning of the year. Kidnapping of Nigerian staff is less common.

Hostages are usually released unharmed after the payment of a ransom. But one Nigerian died in an August gunfight between his captors and a Nigerian military patrol, sparking a three-day strike by Nigerian oil unions over safety fears.

A bombing on a major pipeline to an export terminal last week forced Agip to trim 98 000 barrels of oil production a day.

Beginning in December 2005, a series of militant attacks have shut down over a quarter of oil production in Africa"s largest oil producer, helping send oil prices near record highs.

Oil markets are especially sensitive to unrest in Nigeria, whose light, sweet crude is cheap and easy to refine. The country is also valued for its easy proximity to European and American markets. It is the fifth-largest supplier of crude to the United States. –

PIN/AP