An Italian construction worker who was held hostage in Nigeria said Friday he had been ''released by his kidnappers'' earlier this week.
Giuseppe Canova, 44, worked for an Italian construction company and was kidnapped on April 6 as he drove to a building site in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State in the south east of the country.
''I can't wait to give my family a hug and go back home,'' he said at Rome's Fiumicino airport before boarding a plane to Milan.
''Now I just want to rest. I thank God that I'm here.
''I wouldn't rule out returning to Nigeria, never say never, it's not all negative,'' he added.
Italy's foreign ministry on Friday refused to comment on whether a million-dollar ransom asked for by Canova's kidnappers had been paid.
Local media reported last week that Canova was stopped by a group of armed men and forced to get into the trunk of their car.
Canova is believed to have moved to Nigeria earlier this year to work for the Marlum Construction Company, which is developing several projects in Abakaliki.
Kidnapping of foreign workers in Nigeria is more common around the Niger Delta, where the Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta (MEND) is demanding that the oil-rich region be given independence and that money from oil be used to reduce poverty locally.
In February MEND renewed a threat to attack Italian companies and workers in the country after Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Italy would supply the government with military technology during an official visit.
But local media have reported that MEND is not thought to have been involved in Canova's kidnapping.
