Foreign news agencies reported on Monday that armed attackers had kidnapped three Croatian oil workers in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt on Sunday.
Ljubicic told reporters in Zagreb that the three men worked on oil rigs for the Hydrodive company, which is registered in the Nigerian capital Lagos. They were hired through the Croatian marine personnel recruitment agency Mariner, which is based in Trogir.
He said that the kidnappers had so far set no conditions for the release of the abducted workers, adding that foreign oil companies and their workers were frequently targeted by armed gangs in Nigeria.
Ljubicic said he believed the three men had been abducted for ransom and that the kidnappers would soon come out with their demands.
The Croatian Embassy to London is in contact with the ship owner, and contact has been established with the Nigerian Embassy to Cairo, which promised all the necessary assistance, Ljubicic said.
This was not the first time Croatian workers had been kidnapped in Nigeria. Engineer Ivan Roso was abducted there in December 2004 while working with Seabulk, a contracting company working for oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. He was released three days later.