Nigeria's police chief Mike Okiro has ordered his staff to crack down on kidnappings in the troubled oil-rich south, where more than 200 foreign workers have been seized since January 2006.
He told police chiefs that they should make it a policy to make sure the idea of kidnapping and hostage taking is forced down.
His comments come two days after the release of a three-year-old girl who had been held hostage for four days.
British girl, Margaret Hill, was released unharmed on Sunday. She had been taken at gunpoint from a car as she was being driven to school.
The Niger Delta, home to Nigeria's multi-billion oil and gas industry, has witnessed a spate of kidnappings in the past 18 months.
The abductions are usually staged by separatist groups claiming to fight for a larger share of the oil wealth for the inhabitants of the volatile region. But other groups kidnap foreign workers and their families for ransom.
