BENIN, Nigeria - Three female teachers were abducted when gunmen stormed an elementary school in Benin City, capital of southern Nigeria's Edo State, local police said on Thursday.

State police spokesperson Moses Eguavoen, who confirmed the incident to a Xinhua reporter, identified the teachers as Patience Oroghene, Aisha Momodu and Patience Osadolor.

The victims were held by their captors, following sporadic shooting within the Orogbua Primary School premises at Upper Ekenwan area of the state capital, the police mouthpiece said.

The abducted teachers were immediately driven away in a vehicle belonging to one of the teachers, according to information made available to the police.

A teaching staff of the school who craved for anonymity said a parent who came to check on his ward was hit by a stray bullet during the sporadic shooting by the gunmen.

The police have launched a manhunt for the abductors, in a move to apprehend the criminals, Eguavoen added.

Kidnapping has become a daily business venture in the southern part of Nigeria, where oil theft and piracy also thrive.

Early last month, a Lebanese expatriate working with Setraco Construction Company was abducted by gunmen in a broad daylight in the same Benin City.