Niamey, Oct. 28, (dpa/GNA) – Unidentified armed men have kidnapped a US national in the West African nation of Niger, a local official and the State Department in Washington said on Tuesday.
Philippe Walton was abducted by six assailants in the early hours of Tuesday from his home in the village of Massalata, located near the town of Birni-N’Konni, immediately north of the border to Nigeria.
Local authorities assume the kidnappers came across the border from Nigeria, since they were overheard speaking Hausa and English, the prefect of Birni-N’Konni, Ibrahim Abba Lele, said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. The region is home to various Islamist terrorist and rebel groups, including Nigeria’s Boko Haram.
The US State Department confirmed that a citizen was abducted in Niger. “We are providing their family all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson told dpa.
Walton has been living in Massalata with his wife, child and father since last year, according to Lele.
It remained unclear on Tuesday if Walton was a missionary, or the son of a missionary, with officials unable to provide further details about the kidnapping.
GNA