A Nigerian Catholic priest was abducted from his rectory in the town of Zambina in the northern state of Kaduna in the early hours of Monday, the local Catholic diocese said on Monday.

It said parishioners went to look for Father Emmanuel Silas after waiting in vain for him to conduct the morning mass.

It is not clear who carried out the abduction.

Armed gangs are rife across Nigeria's northwest where they rob or kidnap for ransom, and violence has been increasing, where thinly stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks.

The latest kidnap comes after gunmen last week abducted four Chinese workers with some local employees and killed an unknown number of people at a mine in Niger state in northwestern Nigeria.