Nigeria’s Kaduna state police command says two Americans and two Canadians kidnapped by gunmen on Tuesday have been released.

Police say the four were kidnapped along Kwoi-Jere road in the Kagarko local government area, Kaduna state.

The gunmen are reported by Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper to have killed two Nigerian policemen who were escorting the foreigners. Kidnappings for ransom are common on the road between Kaduna and Abuja. Two Germans were abducted in the region last February but were later freed.

A Sierra Leone diplomat and former head of the army, Nelson Williams, was kidnapped along the road in 2016 and held for five days before his release.

State Commissioner of Police Agyole Abeh said one suspect has been arrested in connection with the abduction. He said the kidnap victims were released early Saturday, following a “massive manhunt” by police.

Their names have not been released.

Abeh said police are still searching for the remaining suspects in an effort to arrest them and bring them to justice.

State police spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu told reporters that the kidnap victims have been taken to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and are undergoing medical observation.

Both spokesmen said no ransom was paid.
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