ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — France is adopting a “determined and discrete” approach to safeguard the lives of eight French hostages kidnapped by extremist groups in and near Nigeria, an official said Saturday.

Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, made the comment to reporters at the international airport in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, after a closed-door meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan as part of a West Africa trip that also took Fabius to neighboring Cameroon, where seven of the eight hostages were captured.