Nigerian minister denies UK kidnap

The Nigerian defence minister, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, has strongly denied any involvement in an attempt to kidnap a former influential government minister, Umaru Dikko, during a stay in Britain in 1984.

Mr Danjuma was testifying before the commission investigating human rights abuses in Nigeria under its lengthy periods of military rule.

Mr Danjuma, a former general, rejected accusations that the government of the time had paid him $10m to organise the kidnapping of Mr Dikko, who was found drugged and chained in a container at an airport outside London.

The head of that government - Muhammadu Buhari - is one of three former military leaders of Nigeria who have refused to appear before the human rights commission.

At the end of the hearing in Abuja, Mr Dikko, who had made the allegations himself, shook hands with Mr Danjuma and embraced him.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service