LONDON – (AFP) – Britain said Thursday it was checking the authenticity of a video obtained by AFP showing two men, a Briton and an Italian, kidnapped in Nigeria in which they say their abductors are Al-Qaeda.

The footage, sent to AFP’s office in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, shows the hostages blindfolded and on their knees, with three men holding weapons standing behind them, their faces hidden by turbans.

“A video has been released allegedly showing the hostages and officials are urgently checking its authenticity,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

“We regret the public release of material such as this and urge the media not to speculate at this sensitive time.”

The spokeswoman confirmed that two people, including a British national, were kidnapped in Nigeria on May 12.

“We are working to secure the hostages’ safe and swift release. We ask those holding the two men to show compassion and release them, enabling them to rejoin their families.

“We are in close contact with the Nigerian and Italian authorities and the company who employ the men,” she said.

Italy’s foreign ministry also said it was trying to verify the authenticity of the video. It identified the Italian hostage as Franco Lamolinara.

The British government has not released the name of the British man, in line with its policy on hostage situations.

The two men are engineers with an Italian construction company based in Nigeria. They were seized by gunmen who stormed their apartment in Birnin Kebbi, capital of Kebbi state in northwestern Nigeria on the border with Niger.

The short video was accompanied by photographs which showed the men without blindfolds, both taken around 10 days old, a source close to the case told AFP.

In the video the hostages give their names and each deliver a statement urging their governments to meet the demands of the kidnappers, whom they say are from Al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda’s north African branch, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), has claimed kidnappings of foreign workers in Niger in recent years, but never in Nigeria.

Abductions are rare in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria although there have been numerous kidnappings for ransoms in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the south of the country.