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Gunmen abducted three foreigners on Friday in separate attacks in southern Nigeria amid an upsurge of violence shaking the region where Africa's biggest oil producer pumps its crude, police said.

Unidentified assailants waylaid a vehicle carrying an Indian and a Lebanese man in Warri and spirited the pair by boat into the vast warren of creeks and mangrove swamps, said Ekpouodom Udom, police chief for Delta State.

He had no details of the captives' identities or employers.

In a separate incident, gunmen stormed a German construction firm in the main southern oil city of Port Harcourt and kidnapped a Dutch employee, said Felix Ogbaudu, the police commissioner for Rivers State.

Heavy gunfire was heard during the attack, he said. More than 150 foreign workers have been seized in the Niger Delta during a year of stepped-up militant attacks and rising crime.

Hostages are generally released unharmed, but two foreigners died in clashes between security forces and gunmen.

Two Italians were released earlier this month after months in captivity.

The three seized on Friday were the only foreign hostages currently known to be held.

Militants say they are fighting to force the federal government to give more oil revenues to their region and release two leaders on trial for treason or corruption charges.

However, criminals looking for ransom appear to be behind most of the latest kidnappings.

Militancy and crime have risen further in recent months as April general elections approach.

Analysts say politicians are arming youths to intimidate their rivals.

The strife has trimmed nearly one quarter of Nigeria's normal 2.5 million barrel-per-day production, helping send crude prices toward historical highs on world markets. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer.