NEW DELHI: The government on Sunday said there was some "positive signs" in the negotiations with abductors of three Indian nationals in Nigeria and is hoping for a solution on Monday.

The negotiations are being conducted by "some private parties" and  not the government as the kidnappers are purely criminal elements, senior External Affairs Ministry officials said.

The officials ruled out the abductors having any political agenda by resorting to the kidnapping. "Their motive is money only," officials said.

Three Indians, including two engineers working for a petrochemical company in Nigeria, were kidnapped yesterday in the third incident of abduction of Indians in the west African state in recent weeks.

Debashish K Davale and another unidentified Indian were abducted outside their residential complex in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria after gunfire that left one Nigerian dead.