2 Chinese mine workers kidnapped in southwest Nigeria

Gunmen have kidnapped two Chinese workers from a gold-mining site in southwest Nigeria and shot their security guards, police said on Wednesday.

Kidnapping for ransom used to be common in Nigeria's oil-producing south but has lately spread to other parts of the country.

The victims are usually released after a ransom is paid although police rarely confirm if money changes hands.

The latest abduction occurred on Monday in Okepa/Itikan village in Osun state, police spokeswoman Yemisi Opalola said in a statement.

She said "a gang of criminals, at about 4pm, attacked and abducted two Chinese nationals."

"The two men, namely Zhao Jian, 33, and Wen, 50, were working at a mining site," she said.

The gunmen shot and wounded two private guards attached to the foreigners, and they had been hospitalized, the spokeswoman said.

"The police are on the trail of the perpetrators of the crime."

Chinese firms are working in Nigeria on infrastructure projects that include mining, railways, airports and roads.