Nigerian police rescue kidnapped Americans, Canadians

A man walks past an advertisement for the fight against Islamist militant group Boko Haram on the back of a public bus in Lagos, Nigeria, on February 12, 2015. Two Americans and two Canadians that were abducted Tuesday by gunmen have been released, police said Saturday. Photo by Ahmed Jallanzo/EPA

Jan. 20 (UPI) — Nigerian police rescued two Americans and two Canadians abducted by gunmen earlier in the week, an official said Saturday.

All four are safe and at their respective embassies in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, Nigeria’s State Commissioner of Police Agyole Abeh told CNN.

Police arrested one suspect and are seeking others, he said. No ransom was paid, Abeh added.

The four were found inside a bush at about 6 a.m. Saturday in Kagarko local government area of Kaduna State after a massive manhunt, Abeh told reporters.

The foreign nationals, who members of an investment team for a solar power project in Kafanchan district in Southern Kaduna, were abducted at 7 p.m. Tuesday while traveling from Kaduna city to Abuja.

“The abductors ambushed them along with police escorts who traveled with them. Two policemen were killed in the gun battle,” Kaduna State Police spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu told CNN.

After the ambush, authorities dispatched an anti-kidnapping unit to search for the gunmen and the victims.

Last year, the U.S. State Department warned travel to Kaduna and seven other states in northern Nigeria are dangerous because of robbery and abduction.

Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group based in northeast Nigeria, has targeted Kaduna.

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