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PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen have abducted an eight-month old baby for ransom in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt, police said on Friday.

At least two gunmen seized the child from her family home late on Thursday, Rita Inoma-Abbey, spokeswoman for the police command in Rivers state told reporters.

"Police are trying to establish contact with the gunmen through the phone number they left with the girl's family, apparently to ask for a ransom," she said.

Abduction is rife in and around Port Harcourt, the main city in Nigeria's restive oil-producing Niger Delta. For years the kidnappers targeted primarily expatriate oil workers but recently wealthy Nigerians have been more common victims.

Thousands of gunmen lay down their weapons last year as part of a presidential amnesty aimed at oil militants but critics say common criminals were among those pardoned and warn that crime will rise as ex-rebels seek other sources of income.