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| Katsina State Nigeria (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Police Commissioner of Katsina State Abdullahi Magaji told reporters here that the French citizen Francis Colump, who works with S.A. Vergnet France, a French power company, was abducted after the gunmen diverted attention by razing a police station in the Rimi local government area late Wednesday.
A private security guard and a passerby were killed and one police officer sustained gunshot injuries, according to Magaji.
"The gunmen used a gas cylinder to bomb the police station, and their purpose was to kidnap the expatriate," said the senior police officer, adding that security agents have launched an operation to rescue the French man and bring the gunmen to justice.
The attackers numbering 30 were later split into two groups after storming the area in three vehicles, the police chief explained, noting that a gun belonging to one of the hoodlums was recovered after the attack.
While a group of the gunmen attacked the police station, members of the other group forced their way into the French man's house in the area and abducted him.
The spate of kidnapping in Nigeria has increased tremendously in recent times as expatriates and oil workers are usually the targets of kidnappers operating in the west African country.
Most of the kidnap victims often regain their freedom unhurt after a huge ransom have been paid for the release, while some others, especially foreigners, often lose their lives during rescue missions.
In the past 10 days, five other kidnap incidents involving mother of a serving Nigerian minister, wife of a retired army general, an actress cum government worker, four expatriates and two other local workers working with a South Korean company and the most recent abduction of five Indians had been recorded in Nigeria.
Kidnapping, gunmen attacks and suicide bombing have become more frequent in Nigeria in recent years.
from XINHUA
2012-12-20 21:26:24
Editor: Fang Yang
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