Spanish declared ‘missing’ in Nigeria-The Nation

Spain said Wednesday that one of its nationals, reportedly a doctor, had gone missing in southern Nigeria and was feared kidnapped.
The disappearance of the man “has all the characteristics of a kidnapping for economic reasons,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said.
Spanish media reported that the missing man is a 58-year-old doctor who works for a clinic belonging to a foundation financially supported by Catholic institution Opus Dei in southwestern Nigeria, a predominantly Christian area.
“The organisation he works for has asked for total discretion.
“It is in the south of the country, not in the north, so there are no political implications of any type,” AFP news agency quoted the foreign minister as saying in the parliament.
An insurgency by Islamist group Boko Haram, which is concentrated mainly in northern Nigeria, has left more than 1,000 people dead since mid-2009.
Police and soldiers are the main victims of the group, but it has also targeted Christians.
Spain’s embassy in Nigeria was working with the local authorities to resolve the case and the foreign ministry was in “permanent contact” with the man’s family, a ministry spokesman said.