THE unknown people who abducted two for eign nationals in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday have demanded the sum of N1.8 billion from Pivot G.I.S Company Limited, the employers of the hostages.
According to a reliable source in the company, the kidnappers, who identified themselves simply as �Niger Delta militants�, said they would not lower the ransom.
The source, who wished not to be named, said the contact was established through the telephone, but that the kidnappers had invited the company for a meeting offshore.
�The people said they are Niger Delta militants, that if we ever want to see our personnel again, we should pay N1.8 billion. They said they were not negotiating the price and they stopped the call because they said they were being tracked with the numbers they were using to call us�, he said.
He disclosed further that the kidnappers ordered the company to bring �10 cartons of Red Label, 10 cartons of Black Label and N500,000 to ever start any physical interaction with them.
�They said we would meet them in the middle of a river which they are yet to tell us with the cartons of drink and the N500,000 to initiate the talks�, he said.
He said the kidnappers warned them to be sure that they were not trailed by the police or any other security agency.
�They said we should make sure that there will be no police or army 200 metres to where they will meet with us and they threatened to kill Billy and Neil immediately if there is any breach �.
In a related development, the United States government has warned its citizens in Nigeria to depart from and defer non-essential travel to Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states in a travel warning issued on Wednesday by the country�s Department of State.
The U.S equally portrayed Nigeria as a dangerous country with Lagos and Abuja infested by robbers and other criminals.