Nigerian Gang Threatens to Kill Toddler Hostage

The mother of a three-year-old girl kidnapped at gunpoint yesterday by Nigerian militants says that the captors warned her they would kill the girl if her father did not swap places with her, according to British and Nigerian media reports. Margaret Hill, the daughter of a British expatriate oil worker and Nigerian woman living in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, was being driven to school yesterday when gunmen cut off the car and took the girl at gunpoint, stabbing her driver in the process. Police ordered her father not to swap places and the captors are demanding cash for her return, but have not named a specific amount, according to reports. Jack Cloonan, an ABC News consultant and hostage negotiator deals with kidnappings in Nigeria frequently. He says the brazen act of kidnapping a small child is an escalation of an already volatile situation. "It is a new escalation. We’ve never encountered this in our work," says Cloonan. "Here’s a guy living off the economy, married to a Nigerian and they take his kid." In the last three years, kidnap-for-cash has become an increasing problem in the Niger Delta. More than 100 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped in this year alone. In previous years, most of the kidnappings were undertaken by the organized militant group MEND (Movement to Emancipate the Niger Delta), or groups similar, who demand that the impoverished residents in the Niger Delta receive more of the billions of dollars of oil revenue.  But Cloonan says the increasing frequency of random groups taking hostages for cash could leave the Niger Delta in complete chaos. "It’s one thing to deal with MEND," says Cloonan. "But this strikes me as more of a criminal act. To target kids is as nasty as it gets." Cloonan worries that Hill’s kidnapping marks a turning point for the worst in the region. "It could lead to a rash of kidnappings just like it," he says. The leader of MEND, who identifies himself as "Jomo" told ABC News.com in an email that "we abhor all forms of violence against women and children and will join in the search for the monsters who carried out the abduction." Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.