Police: Canadian woman kidnapped in Nigeria still believed held

Canadian woman kidnapped still being held

LAGOS, Nigeria — Security forces in Nigeria arrested a man for taking a Canadian woman hostage this month, but other kidnappers were still believed to be holding her, police said Wednesday.

National police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu erroneously told The Associated Press earlier that the woman had been freed. He later said the police command in the northern city of Kaduna had been misinformed and the woman’s release could not yet be confirmed.

The woman was taken hostage April 16 in Kaduna where she had been attending an international conference.

While kidnapping for ransom is common in the restive southern Niger Delta oil region, it’s extremely rare in the heavily Muslim northern part of the country.

Kidnapping victims in Nigeria are typically released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects that Canadian woman not released.)