A group of 12 people, including three South Koreans, were kidnapped by unidentified insurgents at a construction site in Nigeria today, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said. The workers of South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co., including eight from the Philippines and a Nigerian driver, were taken hostage early today (Nigerian time) in Rivers State in the Niger Delta area, the ministry said. "The workers were taken hostage between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. (Nigerian time). The government is gathering information to have a clear picture of what happened there," the North Korean news agency Yonhap quoted a ministry official as saying while speaking on condition of anonymity. An emergency control center, consisting of officials from the South Korean construction firm and the South Korean Embassy there, has been established to work for an early release of the hostages, the official said. -- SPA
