Seven Setraco Foreign Workers Kidnapped In Bauch

Seven foreign workers have been abducted and a security guard shot dead by gunmen who attacked a construction company site in Bauchi, officials say.

One of the workers seized was Italian, one was Greek and two others Lebanese.

But UK officials could not confirm a report that another was British.

No-one has admitted the abductions but the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, has staged a series of attacks in the North.

A security guard was killed as the attackers targeted the workers’ camp at Jama’are in Bauchi state.

Lebanese foreign minister Adnan Mansour said two of those held were from Lebanon.

An Italian and a Greek national were also abducted from the site run by Lebanese-owned firm Setraco, the foreign ministries in Rome and Athens confirmed.

Another of those seized was a Filipino, a union leader at Setraco told the BBC.

The Italian ambassador in Abuja said, “Italy’s absolute priority is the safety of its compatriot,” Ansa News Agency reported.

A UK foreign office spokesman said it was investigating reports of a Briton being kidnapped.

The raid was preceded by an attack on the local police station, when two vehicles were blown up in the town of Jama’are about 200km from state capital, Bauchi