Gunmen Kidnap Lebanese Worker In Nigeria

 Gunmen in Nigeria abducted a Lebanese construction worker on Tuesday as he drove to work in Warri, a city in the oil-producing Niger Delta, a military spokesman said.

"He was on his way to work when he was abducted by the gunmen on the Ekpan expressway in Warri," said Lieutenant Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the joint military taskforce in the western Niger Delta.

Abubakar said the man was working for the local Nigercat Construction company. No group has claimed responsibility.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta over the past three years, the vast majority of them released unharmed after the payment of a ransom.

Some kidnappings have been carried out by militant groups which say they are fighting for a fairer share of the region's natural wealth, but copy-cat gangs have taken advantage of the insecurity to carry out abductions for profit