Nigerian rebels freed an Italian citizen who had been held captive for over a week in the state of Ebonyi, where such kidnappings - common in some states - are rare. According to the Italian government, Nigerian officials were able to forge some sort of settlement with the gunmen, and the affair ended "possitively." The man, Giuseppe Canova, said in a phone call to his mother in Italy that the gunmen had treated him well and that he is scheduled to return to Italy within the next few days. Canova was not a foreign oil worker; he was working for a construction company that had been contracted to build a compound for the Ebonyi state government. This article demonstrates that the grave situation for foreigners in Nigeria is not limited to oil workers in the Niger delta. Armed groups appear to be attempting to expand their control and strike fear into overseas corporations. Although this crisis did not involve oil, the trade of that commodity is at the root of the rebellion. Until the Nigerian government, rebels, and foreign companies can agree on a way to share oil wealth, such attacks and kidnappings will continue.
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