Nigeria: fifty hostages freed

Nigerian soldiers in Ngamdu (northeast), November 3, 2020 (photo illustration).

AFP - AUDU MARTE

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2 min

In Nigeria, 53 passengers of a bus, kidnapped a little over a week ago in the state of Niger, in the center-west of the country, were released on Sunday evening.

On the other hand, the 42 hostages captured in the village of Kagara last Wednesday, are still in the hands of their captors.

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From our correspondent in Lagos,

Liza Fabbian

There was talk of at least " 

twenty

 " hostages.

In the end, 53 people were released on Sunday evening, just a week after their kidnapping.

The victims, starving and exhausted, were received shortly before midnight by the local governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello.

He said in a statement that the authorities have spent " 

a week of dialogue, consultations, hard work and sleepless nights to obtain their release as soon as possible

 ."

According to the Nigerian press, 20 women, 24 men and 9 children have been released.

These hostages had appeared in a video, in which the kidnappers, armed with machine guns and a rocket launcher, demanded a ransom of 1 million euros.

The authorities had firmly rejected this market.

On Sunday, the governor of the State of Niger clarified that the

42 people including 27 students

, kidnapped in Kagara last Wednesday, have still not been released.

Negotiations are underway

and are well under way, according to local authorities.

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  • Nigeria

  • Kidnappings

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