EPL star's brother kidnapped in Niger

Nairobi/Abuja:

Gunmen in Niger have seized the elder brother of Everton and Nigeria player Joseph Yobo from a hotel in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria, police said.

River State police spokeswoman Rita Inoma-Abbey told the BBC that no contact had yet been made with Norum Yobo or the kidnappers and that an investigation was underway.

Everton said it would offer every assistance to Yobo, who is on holiday in Lagos, the BBC said.

Port Harcourt is the capital of River State in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where kidnappings for ransom are relatively common.

Militants in the impoverished Niger Delta have been attacking oil facilities and seizing oil workers as they press for a greater share of the region's oil wealth.

Despite Nigeria having long been Africa's top oil producer - until it was surpassed by Angola in April due to the militant attacks - many people still live in abject poverty.