Gunmen abduct seven, including Australians in Calabar

Gunmen in Calabar, Cross River, have killed a local driver and kidnapped as many as seven people, at least three of whom are Australian citizens and one an Australian resident, Australian prime minister said on Thursday.

There was some initial confusion over the number of victims and nationalities of those involved, as police in Nigeria gave conflicting accounts, Reuters reported.

The workers, two of whom police said later escaped, were contractors for cement company Lafarge Africa.

They were attacked on the outskirts of the city of Calabar at about 05:30am (0430 GMT), police said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the incident a “very serious kidnapping” in response to a journalist’s question and urged calm in reporting the incident.

“These are the facts as we know them: three Australians and one Australian resident were among seven people kidnapped in an attack on an Australia contractor’s operations in Nigeria. One person was killed in the attack,” Reuters quoted Turnbull as saying to journalists.

Two expatriates managed to flee, said Irene Ugbo, a spokeswoman for Cross River State police, adding that she did not know the nationality of any of the workers feared still held.

Ugbo had earlier said only two of the kidnapped people were Australians, and one was a New Zealander, while another police officer said a South African had been abducted.

The kidnappers had not contacted the police, she said.