Nigerian chief's toddler son released

A Nigerian toddler abducted on his way to nursery school in oil-rich southern Nigeria returned safely home on Friday to cheers and singing, the fourth child seized and released unharmed in two months.

Three-year-old Samuel, town chief Eze Francis Amadi's son, was still in his school uniform when Nigerian security services escorted him home. He rushed into the arms of his mother.

"I'm grateful to God for the safe release of my son, but if he had been harmed there would have been trouble," said Chief Eze.

He called on Nigeria to find and punish kidnappers. His son was the fourth child seized in the last two months, including a 3-year-old British girl set free after four days in captivity.

Samuel, in good spirits, asked to listen to his favorite song by local artist Mamma G as delighted villagers chanted his name.

An aide to the boy's father said Thursday the kidnappers demanded the equivalent of nearly $400,000, but eventually dropped to $40,000. They even provided an account number to make payment simpler.

Nobody at the family compound would confirm whether a ransom was paid. Few families or companies targeted admit paying cash for fear of making themselves a target again.

Analysts say the prospect of large cash ransoms encourages the kidnappings, which first began when impoverished communities took oil workers hostage to protest pollution or failed development projects.

Gradually, more organized militant groups began to use the publicity generated by kidnapping foreigners to pressure the government for more political rights _ and a greater share of oil revenues for their neglected region.

Several also have demanded payment in cash instead of development projects, and over 150 foreigners and several Nigerians have been kidnapped so far this year.

Now, many of the kidnappers may simply be criminal gangs, with no political agenda. Few suspects are arrested, encouraging gangs to see hostages as easy cash, experts said. Many gangs also have links to powerful local politicians, who use them as hired muscle during campaigns.

"It's a bunch of criminal gangs cashing in on the cash-for-kidnap culture," said one security consultant who asked for anonymity due to company restrictions on speaking to the press.

Chief Eze says neither political struggles nor desperation for cash can justify Samuel's ordeal.

"No one has the right to kidnap my son," he said.