The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday confirmed the abduction of eight Filipino workers in strife-torn Nigeria, television reports said.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr earlier said the department needed more time to confirm the information, which was relayed by a Filipino contract worker in Port Harcourt.

A 40-minute gun battle reportedly preceeded the abduction at a Daewoo power plant construction site.

Last Thursday, officials from Daewoo Engineering and Construction confirmed that the kidnapping indeed took place and that three South Korean workers were taken hostage.

A wire agency has also reported that the South Korean foreign ministry official confirmed the abduction of the Korean workers by armed gunmen.

Last Jan. 22, the labor department banned the deployment of workers to the African country after the kidnapping of 24 Filipino seafarers in Warri in the Niger Delta. The seamen were released almost a month later.

Another Filipino, Winston Panaligan Helera, 51, was taken by Nigerian militants in Owerri on his way to the airport in Port Harcourt on Feb 6 for his quarterly vacation in Lagos. His kidnappers released him after 30 days in captivity.

Helera worked as an instrumentation engineer at Netco Dietsmann, the Nigerian arm of Monaco-based Shell oil services. He hails from Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro.

Josiebeth Gregorio Foroozan, reported to have been abducted Feb 7 near a bank two kilometers away from her home in Port Harcourt, showed up with her Iranian husband at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in downtown Manila on March 14 and claimed she was not kidnapped as earlier reported by her sister, Jane Gregorio. - GMANews.TV