The seven Chinese workers of a fishing company who were abducted by gunmen in Cameroon last Friday are "safe and in good health," a Chinese embassy official in Cameroon confirmed to China Daily on Monday.

"The hostages are safe and in good health, and the embassy is trying its best to rescue the captives," said Peng Jingtao, a councilor with the Chinese Embassy in Cameroon. Peng refused to reveal details.

The seven Chinese nationals, who were working for the Dalian Beihai Fishing Company, were kidnapped off the Bakassi peninsula in southwest Cameroon early on Friday, Xinhua News Agency said.

The AFP news wire, citing a source in Cameroon, said that the kidnappers have demanded US$15,000 as ransom for the release of the captives. The official, however, said the embassy had not received such a demand.

A group calling itself the "Africa Marine Commando" has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

The relevant government departments in Cameroon were working closely with the embassy to ensure the release of the hostages as quickly as possible, Xinhua said.

Over 20 crew-members were on two vessels belonging to the fishing company when they were attacked. Of the seven captives, two are villagers from Dalian in northeastern China and five are from Shandong province, the local Dalian Evening News reported.

The Beihai Fishing Company turned into a private enterprise in 2004 and set up base in Cameroon soon after, owning 8 fishing vessels. Many fishermen went to work for the company in Cameroon, the newspaper reported.

When contacted by China Daily, the company head Yuan Yulong refused to comment on the incident.

The oil-rich Bakassi peninsula has been administered by Nigeria since independence from Britain in 1960 but was handed over to Cameroon in 2008 following a ruling by the International Court of Justice, aiming to settle the territorial dispute, which had led to a series of bloody clashes between Nigeria and Cameroon in the 1990s.

"The territorial disputes have affected effective administration of the area, which is the main reason for the unrests and anti-government forces taking root there," said Xu Weizhong, an expert on Africa at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Conflicts among the numerous ethnic groups and poverty have lead to insecurity, Xu said. "But the kidnappers here are not as cruel as the Somalian pirates. Their aim is money, and they don't ask for too high a ransom," Xu said.