Five foreign workers and two locals who were kidnapped last week in oil-rich Nigeria’s Cross River state have been freed, police have said.
The men included three Australians, a South African and a New Zealander working for Australian mining and engineering company Macmahon Holdings.
“Our men are at a safe location, but unfortunately five of them were injured during the incident,” Macmahon chief executive Sy van Dyk said at a press conference in Perth, Australia.
No further details have been given about their abductions or release.
Kidnapping for ransom has been a long-standing problem in southern Nigeria, particularly in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where criminal gangs target wealthy Nigerians and expatriate workers.