Santiago López Méndez, an Argentine agricultural engineer, was kidnapped in Nigeria by a group of armed men while he was working in a field, the Foreign Ministry has confirmed.
The kidnapping took place at 10 am (local time) in an open land located five hours away from Abuja, the country’s capital city. According to witnesses, the kidnappers arrived riding motorcycles and shooting into the air. They stole Santiago’s van and took him with them.
Santiago López Méndez has been living in Abuja since 2014, where he works for the company Four Mills of Nigeria.
The Argentine consul and ambassador are working closely with Nigerian police to find the kidnappers. No contact has been made but officers think the criminals are still near the area where the kidnapping took place.
Officers speculate the kidnappers took Santiago because he is white and they expect to be paid ransom.
The region where the Argentine agricultural engineer was abducted is not controlled by jihadist group Boko Haram, which runs various states in the northern part of Nigeria since 2009.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald