Ranchi, Apr 28 (PTI) Residents of a Jharkhand village from where five workers went to Niger, a west African country, and were allegedly abducted there, on Monday urged the Centre to ensure their safe return.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren had on Sunday sought External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's intervention in helping the five workers from the state.

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Families of the five migrant workers - Sanjay Mahto, Faljit Mahto, Raju Mahto, Chandrika Mahto and Uttam Mahto - earlier appealed to the CM to intervene, saying that they were abducted in Niger where they had gone to work with a power transmission company.

"Five workers went to Niger as migrant labourers. We were not able to contact them over the phone. Later we contacted others who have been working there and came to know that the five labourers along with a local were kidnapped in the African country. Now, we demand the safe return of our villagers," a resident of the Mundro panchayat said.

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All the five "abducted" people hailed from Giridih district of the state.

"Union External Affairs Minister, Honourable @Dr S Jaishankar Ji is requested to please provide help to our migrant brothers from Jharkhand who have been kidnapped in Niger as per information," Soren posted on X on Sunday.

It was not immediately known who were responsible for the alleged abduction of labourers.

But clashes between the army and terrorists have been reported recently in a section of Niger.

An attack by armed men in western Niger killed 12 soldiers on Friday in an area near the border with Mali and Burkina Faso, which has long been a hotbed of extremist violence, the army said.

Last month, an attack by a jihadi group on a village in the African region killed 44 civilians.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)