Searchers are confident that five Chinese workers kidnapped in Nigeria on Friday will be released safely, a reliable official said yesterday.

The official quoted a well-known king of the Emohua council in Rivers state, south Nigeria, as saying he will "offer necessary assistance to the Chinese rescue group as well as the state government and the police in rescuing the kidnapped Chinese."

The official, who refused to be identified, said the king also believed that the five abducted Chinese workers will be set free unharmed.

But the official will not reveal the king's name for fear that it may hinder hostage negotiations.

The Chinese rescue group, headed by Wang Lei, a political councillor of the Chinese embassy, arrived in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state, on Saturday afternoon.

Wang said that the group is made up of three Chinese embassy staff, and two officials from the telecommunication company that employs the kidnap victims.

He said they will coordinate with the Rivers state government and the police in securing the release of the five as early as possible.

Wang quoted Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the permanent secretary of the Nigerian Foreign Ministry, as saying that "the Nigerian government feels very sorry over the kidnapping of Chinese workers in the Niger Delta."

Ahmed also said that the Nigerian government will use all of its available resources to contact the kidnappers and fast-track a release.

The permanent secretary conveyed Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's great concern over the incident.

So far no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, and nobody knows the whereabouts of either the kidnappers or their victims.

Police have now started a wider search, said Ireju Barasua, public relations officer of the Rivers State Police Command.

The five Chinese workers in a rural telecom program were abducted by unidentified armed men. Equipment worth thousands of US dollars was also taken. The identities of the company and its workers have not been released.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered the Foreign Ministry, and China's embassy and consulate in Nigeria, to do everything possible.

Rivers state is in the oil-rich but troubled Niger Delta where there have been more than 10 kidnappings of foreign workers since the start of 2006. This is the first time that Chinese workers have been kidnapped.