A British national has been kidnapped by gunmen shortly after landing at the international airport in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, a diplomat and a private security source said today.
"There was a kidnapping of a Briton and we are working with the Nigerian authorities," said Wale Adebayo, spokesman at the Deputy High Commission in Lagos told AFP.
He declined to provide any details, including the day the attack occurred.
A private security source familiar with incident however told AFP that the British man was abducted on Tuesday while travelling into the city after landing at the airport.
This source, who requested anonymity, said there were strong indications that the gunmen were seeking a ransom payment.
The kidnapping of foreigners for ransom is common in Nigeria, particularly around the oil-rich southern coast, and there has also been a rise in such incidents in Lagos.
Foreigners have also been kidnapped in the north, but those attacks are considered a different and have been blamed on Islamist extremists.
Several abductions in the north have led to the deaths of foreign hostages.
