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full screen Archive image from Agadez in northern Niger. Photo: Carley Petesch/AP/TT
An Austrian woman has been kidnapped in the Nigerian city of Agadez, Austria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms to AFP.
According to the local news site Air-Info, it is about a 73-year-old woman. At gunpoint, the armed kidnappers allegedly forced her guard to open the door to her home on Saturday night. The kidnappers allegedly forced the woman into a vehicle and did not take any belongings.
The woman is said to have lived in the city in northern Niger for 28 years and in 2010 she opened a center focusing on education, health, women’s empowerment, ecology, culture and art. As early as 2021, she was subjected to threats of kidnapping, writes the news site.
The Austrian embassy in Algeria, which is responsible for Niger, says it is in contact with partner countries, an EU delegation on the ground and regional authorities.
Authorities in Agadez have declined to comment.