​‪Senior Sierra Leonean diplomat abducted in Nigeria

By Rafiu Ajakaye and Alpha Kamara

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Sierra Leone’s deputy high commissioner to ‪Nigeria has been kidnapped, a Sierra Leonean diplomat said Friday.

Alfred Nelson-Williams, the former head of his country’s armed forces, was seized on the highway between Kaduna, northwest Nigeria, and the capital Abuja on Thursday, Haja Hafsatu Kabba, the Sierra Leonean high commissioner in Abuja, said.

Sierra Leone’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming the kidnap. It said the ministry was in contact with Nigerian security forces who have given assurances to do everything to secure Nelson-Williams’ release.

A Nigerian security source confirmed the kidnapped but a police spokesman in Kaduna state was unable to do so immediately.

The identity of the kidnappers is unknown but they demanded 40 million naira ($150,000) in a telephone call to the mission on Friday.

An official at the high commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on commenting publicly, said a call was received at around 4 a.m. local time (0300GMT) threatening to kill Nelson-Williams if the ransom was not paid. They said Nelson-Williams spoke on the phone and sounded frightened.

Nelson-Williams was appointed Sierra Leone’s chief of defense in 2008 after a 33-year military career. He held the post until he was appointed deputy high commissioner last year.

Although kidnapping is a more common phenomenon in Nigeria’s south, where foreign oil workers are often taken hostage, it is increasing in the north. In March, a Nigerian army colonel was found dead in Kaduna state two days after he was abducted.