Lebanese man shot dead in Nigeria

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Unknown gunmen have shot and killed a Lebanese businessman in his house in Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt, local police say.

Security sources say the businessman was killed during a failed abduction attempt early on Friday.

A police station was also attacked after the shooting and three policemen were wounded, police spokesperson Irejua Barasua told the BBC.

It is not immediately clear whether the two incidents are related.

A large Lebanese community lives in Nigeria, as in many other African countries, but they are mostly in the north, not the Niger Delta.

Kidnapping of foreign workers and attacks on oil pipelines are common in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, where local militants are fighting for local control of the oil wealth.

More than 150 foreigners - mostly oil workers - and many Nigerians have been kidnapped in the region so far this year.

The hostages are usually released unharmed after ransom payments that are always denied by the Nigerian authorities and the oil companies concerned.

Despite being Africa's top oil producer and the sixth largest exporter crude to the US, the Niger Delta remains heavily impoverished.

Attacks on oil installations have cut Nigeria's oil daily production by about 25%, helping to drive up world oil prices.