Berlin - Two engineers employed by a German construction firm have been abducted and are being held in Nigeria, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin Saturday.

Speaking to commercial news broadcaster n-tv, Steinmeier said the engineers were employed by the Mannheim company Bilfinger Berger.

A Nigerian military spokesman said Friday that armed men had seized two foreign nationals from a construction site in the Niger delta some 19 kilometres from Port Harcourt.

An employee of the company was abducted in March and freed after some 12 hours. At the time Bilfinger Berger provided few details but denied paying ransom. (dpa)