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Last update - 08:23 28/08/2008
Israeli construction manager kidnapped outside his home in Nigeria
By Yossi Melman and Dor Belach, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
Tags: Israel, Nigeria

An Israeli construction manager was kidnapped outside his home in Nigeria on Tuesday night, but the region's main militant group said yesterday it was not responsible and offered to help negotiate his release.

The man, a 60-year-old project manager, was seized after an event held at the home of the governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi, in honor of Israel's ambassador, Moshe Ram.

After the event, the kidnap victim traveled home with his personal driver, but when they arrived, he was seized by armed assailants, who removed the driver from the car and took the man captive.
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No group has taken responsibility for the incident.

The kidnapped project manager worked for the construction company Gilmor Engineering Limited, and has lived and worked in Nigeria for years. He was involved in building the country's central bank at a cost of $70 million.

Gilmor was affiliated with the late businessman and owner of the Hapoel Haifa soccer team Robi Shapira. Today it is owned by two Israelis, Avi Abuksis and Eli Golder.

Golder had just landed in Germany when he was informed of the kidnapping and immediately returned to Nigeria.

Ambassador Ram told Haaretz yesterday that Governor Amaechi assured him he was taking all possible measures to bring the kidnapped man home safely.

Amaechi is known as an uncompromising governor who refuses to give in to threats or blackmail.

Since the incident, the kidnapped man's family have locked themselves at home in Ra'anana while waiting for updates on his condition.

"We're on the phone non-stop with the Foreign Ministry, the embassy, police, Nigerian police and the company he works for," said a family friend.

"We still don't know anything. We want to believe that in the end everything will work out," he said.

The man's wife told Channel 2 News yesterday that she is unsure about rumors that his driver was involved in the incident.

"It could be that he was involved, but for now these are just rumors," she said. The driver has been detained by Nigerian police.

She added that her husband had never expressed unease about working in the country. "I also visited there in April and May, there is nothing to fear," she said.

Sources at the Israeli embassy and Nigerian police said they have yet to receive any demands from the kidnappers. Representatives at Gilmor said they have not received demands either.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main militant group in the area, whose campaign of sabotage has included bombing pipelines and kidnapping foreign oil workers, has denied any involvement in the incident.

A spokesperson for the group told Haaretz by e-mail that it would assist in locating the man.

The possibility is also being investigated that the assailants posed as members of the group, or that the perpetrators belonged to a terrorist group involved in the Middle East conflict.

The Foreign Ministry announced the creation of a special task force, including senior security officials, to handle the situation.

Between 700 and 800 Israelis are believed to be living in Nigeria, most of them representing Israeli companies operating there. Among the dominant industries are oil, construction and fishing.

Several months ago, the Prime Minister's Office Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a warning to Israelis against traveling to the north of the country due to activity by Muslim radicals.

More than 200 foreigners have been seized in the Niger Delta, the heart of the country's oil sector, since early 2006. Almost all have been released unharmed.

Insecurity in Nigeria, the world's eighth largest oil exporter, has cut crude output by about one-fifth since militants launched their campaign of violence two years ago to press for greater development of their neglected communities.


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