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Nigerian Kidnappers Release 15 Children
11:10am Friday October 01, 2010
Gary Mitchell
Fifteen children who were kidnapped by gunmen from a schoolbus in Nigeria have been freed.
The children were released from a forest in Abia state, Nigera. Picture: Google Maps
The children – some as young as three – were released unharmed by the gang following an operation by security services. Gunmen stopped the bus on Monday morning as it headed towards the Abayi International School, near Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta. Kidnappings of middle-class children as well as priests, politicians and doctors are common in and around the area, but the abduction of so many children sparked outrage.
President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the kidnapping as "utterly callous and cruel". Jonathan Johnson, police commissioner of Abia state, said: "All the 15 schoolchildren that were abducted on Monday have now regained freedom. "They were rescued by a combined team of army and police security services late last night in the forest of Ogwe-Asa in Abia state."
Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan hit out at "cruel" kidnappers
He added: "No arrests have been made yet and no ransom was paid to the best of my knowledge." Initial reports suggested the kidnappers were seeking a ransom of £95,000, but by Thursday the demand had dropped below £2,000. The whereabouts of three French oil workers kidnapped from a drilling supply ship last week is still unknown and police in nearby Rivers state say five women are still missing after they were kidnapped two weeks ago by a gang.
