France will make every effort to find the French priest kidnapped between Wednesday night and Thursday morning in northern Cameroon, President Francois Hollande said Thursday.

"We are making every effort in order that this priest (Georges Vandenbeusch) could be found and that we could give him back his freedom," he said during an official visit to Monaco.

He also asked French citizens who live or travel in areas considered high-risk to do nothing "to put their lives in danger or to expose themselves to kidnappings."

Vandenbeusch was kidnapped in the Nguetchewe parish, near Koza, in the extreme north of Cameroon, 30 km to the border with Nigeria, the French foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday in a statement.

"Investigations are under way in order to verify the situation and to identify the kidnappers," the statement said.