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Nigeria gunmen seize French man in Katsina | Nigeria gunmen seize French man in Katsina |
(35 minutes later) | |
A group of 30 gunmen have used dynamite to force their way into a well-guarded compound in northern Nigeria and seize a French engineer, police say. | A group of 30 gunmen have used dynamite to force their way into a well-guarded compound in northern Nigeria and seize a French engineer, police say. |
Two Nigerian guards were killed in the attack, said Katsina state police commissioner Abdullahi Magaji. | |
As the unknown group fled, they attacked a police station, he said. | As the unknown group fled, they attacked a police station, he said. |
Katsina has been relatively unscathed by months of violence in northern Nigeria carried out by Boko Haram Islamist militants. | Katsina has been relatively unscathed by months of violence in northern Nigeria carried out by Boko Haram Islamist militants. |
Mr Magaji told the AFP news agency he did not think the militant group, which is based in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, was behind the kidnapping. | |
The kidnapped man worked for a French company on a wind power project in the town of Rimi, about 25km (15 miles) from Katsina city , reports the AFP news agency. | The kidnapped man worked for a French company on a wind power project in the town of Rimi, about 25km (15 miles) from Katsina city , reports the AFP news agency. |
Two security guards were shot dead in the attack, while a police officer was wounded, the police commissioner said. | |
Earlier this year, a kidnapped German engineer was killed by his captors during a failed rescue bid. The BBC's Wills Ross in Nigeria says it is thought the group holding him had links to al-Qaeda's North African wing, which is active in neighbouring Niger, and Mali. | |
A British and an Italian hostage were also killed this year during a similar attempt to free them by British and Nigerian forces. | |
There has been a spate of recent kidnappings in southern Nigeria, where the motive is usually a ransom. |