June 2, 2009 - The Daily Star - Nigeria Police free Lebanese abducted

ONITSHA, Nigeria: A Lebanese construction worker and his police escort were rescued hours after they were abducted for ransom in southeastern Nigeria, a spokesman said on Monday. The two men were traveling along the Aba-Port Harcourt highway when they were seized by 18 gunmen in the state of Abia on Sunday, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) said. They were freed hours after." During the rescue bid, the police escort was shot and the expatriate was shot in the leg by the kidnappers before escaping," said Soji Alabi, a spokesman for Abia state command of the NSCDC. The Lebanese man and his escort received treatment at a hospital in the state capital Umuahia before the construction worker was taken away by his employers who are based in the oil city of Port Harcourt, Alabi said. Kidnappings for ransom, often of oil workers, are more common in the creeks of the Niger Delta, a vast wetland region which is home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry. But abductions are relatively rare in other part of Africa's most populous country. An Italian construction worker was kidnapped in southeastern state of Ebonyi state in April. He was rescued by the police after a few days in captivity. A Canadian woman was also abducted in April in the northern city of Kaduna. She was rescued two weeks after.