CALABAR, Nigeria: Gunmen in southern Nigeria kidnapped three expatriate cement industry workers and killed their local driver in an early morning attack, police said on Wednesday.
The workers, two of whom later escaped, were contractors for cement company Lafarge Africa. Two were Australians and one a New Zealander.
They were attacked on the outskirts of the city of Calabar at around 05:30 a.m. (0430 GMT), police said.
Two of the trio managed to flee, Irene Ugbo, a spokeswoman for Cross River state police, adding she did not know the nationality of the workers still being held.
The kidnappers had yet to contact police, she said.
Lafarge Africa said it had been informed of the incident by Australian contractor Macmahon.
“Macmahon is working with the security agencies to resolve this situation,” said Viola Graham-Douglas, a spokeswoman for Lafarge Africa. Macmahon could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Ani Akpan, Anamesere Igboeroteonwu and Alexis Akwagyiram,; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by John Stonestreet)
Reuters
