Italian man 'abducted in Nigeria'

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An Italian construction worker has been kidnapped in the south-eastern Nigerian state of Ebonyi, the Italian foreign ministry has said.

The man was employed on a state contract and was seized in the state capital, Abakaliki, said police.

Kidnappings by oil militants are common in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, although rare elsewhere.

Hundreds of expatriates and many more Nigerian workers have been seized for ransom in the past three years.

Ebonyi state Police Commissioner Emmanuel Udoji told Reuters news agency that the Italian worker had been "kidnapped at Abakaliki while on the way to the project site".

Italy's foreign ministry said it had "activated all useful channels to bring a positive resolution to the abduction" and was in contact with the Nigerian authorities and the man's family, the AFP news agency reported.