2007年VOA标准英语-Nigerian Gunmen Release British Girl

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
09 July 2007

A three-year-old British toddler who was kidnapped last week in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state has been released and reunited with her family. Gilbert da Costa reports that Margaret Hill's abduction provoked a huge outcry.

 

Mike Hill and his three-year-old daughter Margaret sit inside car after her release, 09 Jul 2007

Rivers state government spokesman Emmanuel Orkar says no ransom¹ was paid for the release of Margaret Hill. He says her abductors had initially² demanded a ransom payment of about $400,000.

 

"Clearly, the Rivers state government decided³ to make it very clear that they were not going to pay a dime⁴ to anybody," he said. "Negotiations⁵ began and initially they were asking for 50 million naira [about $400,000], and they kept going down. ... It now came to a point where they agreed and asked the SSS [State Security Service] to come and pick the baby at Ogbakiri."

 

Gunmen intercepted⁶ a car carrying Margaret to school on Thursday and kidnapped her, the first abduction of a foreign child in Nigeria's unruly oil region.

 

Her snatching triggered a storm of protests from many Nigerians, including President Umaru Yar'Adua, who dispatched the country's police chief to the region to help secure Margaret's release.

 

More than a dozen foreigners are being held by gunmen motivated by ransom, including five kidnapped last week from an offshore⁷ oil rig.

 

About 200 foreign workers have been abducted⁸ since the end of 2005, making criminal kidnapping widespread in Nigeria's main oil producing region.

 

Journalist Ibiba Don Pedro in Port Harcourt says a high-level complicity involving state officials is driving the kidnapping-for-ransom culture.

 

"The people have not even begun to learn to devise strategies to handle this situation as a people because it is clearly beyond them," he said. "The very people in power are the people at the center of this crisis."

 

Sunday, Nigerian television reported the kidnapping of three foreigners, believed to be either Lebanese or Chinese, from a compound in Port Harcourt.

1 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

2 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

7 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。