Ten foreigners abducted in Gabon have been rescued in Tombia, a creek along Bille Waterways of Degema Local Government Area, Rivers State.
A ransom of $300,000 was paid for their freedom.
Among the abducted include six Chinese, three Indonesians, one Gabonese and four Nigerians said to have facilitated their release.
They were rescued on Saturday by men of the 29 Battalion, of the 6 Division, Nigeria Army, Port Harcourt with support from the local vigilante.
Lt Col Mohammed Yahaya, the commanding of 29 battalion handed over the rescued foreigners and the Nigerian negotiators of their ransom and release to men of the Department of State Security (DSS) for further investigations on the incident.
He said that from preliminarily findings, “they were kidnapped off the coast of Gabon on 7 February and brought into Nigerian creeks. A ransom of $300,000 was paid to secure their release before we came in.
“After that settlement, as they were about bringing them out of the creeks, they had issues that made them even susceptible to kidnapping again.
“So, men of the 29 Battalion, under the 6 Division, in conjunction with local vigilante launched that operation and were able to rescue them.
“They have a trolley, Socipeg, registered in Gabon. It was in course of their fishing activities that they were kidnapped. DSS are expected to do further investigations to unravel the circumstance and enable us go after the abductors.”
