BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

06/05/2007

Female abducted in Nigeria is Belarusian citizen - ministry

MINSK. May 6 (Interfax) - The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has officially confirmed that a female abducted in Nigeria is a Belarusian citizen.

Marina Vanshina, a representative of the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, told Interfax tat the Belarusian Foreign Ministry upholds tight contacts with the Russian embassy in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, in order to find out information about the abducted female.

Belarusian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Mikhnevich told Interfax that "a witness of the abduction of Irina Ekpo-Umo, who allegedly is a Belarusian citizen, called the British embassy in Lagos."

The embassy informed the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on the call. The ministry asked Nigerian police to search for the abducted female.

Mikhnevich said that Ekpo-Umo, 45, left for Nigeria from the UK and she was registered at consular agencies of the country.

Meanwhile, a source in the Russian diplomatic corps said that Belarus does not have a diplomatic mission in Nigeria, that is why the Russian embassy in Lagos is involved in searching for Ekpo-Umo.

The source also said that the abducted female was a married upon a Nigerian citizen.

It was earlier reported referring to Nigerian police that she was working for a local company involved in oil business.

Source:

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?menu=1&id_issue=11728566

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