Rome - A 44-year-old Italian man abducted in Nigeria on April 6 has been released, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The man, Giuseppe Canova, was "unharmed" a ministry statement said, without adding further details on the release.

The ministry said it "thanks the Nigerian Authorities for their proactive collaboration which resulted in a positive solution of the case."

Canova had been working for an Italian company Marlum Construction in the southeastern Nigerian state of Ebonyi when he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

Kidnappings take place frequently in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where hundreds of people have been abducted over the past three years, but they are rare in other parts of the country such as Ebonyi. (dpa)