LAGOS: Two American and two Canadians who were kidnapped in an ambush by gunmen in northern Nigeria this week were freed on Saturday, police said.
Nigerian security forces had launched a manhunt after the four were seized on Tuesday evening in the state of Kaduna by kidnappers who shot dead two of their police escorts.
“They have been rescued thanks to the efforts of the police,” Kaduna state police spokesman Muktar Aliyu said.
“All of them are in a good condition of health” and are now in the care of their embassies, he said.
Aliyu said they were rescued at about 5 am (0400 GMT) in the same area where they were kidnapped, but declined to give further information, saying it was “classified information.”
“I cannot confirm if there have been negotiations or a ransom paid,” Aliyu added.
One person suspected of links to the kidnapping — the latest abduction targeting foreigners in Nigeria — has been arrested, he said.
The four North Americans — whose identities have not been disclosed — were on private business in Kaduna when they were snatched on the road from the town of Kafanchan to the capital Abuja.
Kidnapping has long been a problem in Nigeria’s southern states, where high-profile individuals, including the families of prominent politicians, are regularly seized.
But as the economy stalled in recent years, the crime began creeping north.
A State Department travel advisory urges US citizens to “reconsider” traveling to Nigeria, warning that “violent crime such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping and rape is common throughout the country.”
A crackdown on cattle rustling has been blamed for rising numbers of abductions in the north, with criminals turning to kidnapping.
The Kaduna-Abuja road is notoriously unsafe. It is a journey of about two-and-a-half hours by car through villages and past tracts of fields and forests.
Security on the route came under intense scrutiny last year when the federal government announced the closure of the capital’s only airport for essential runway repairs.
Many foreign missions and companies advised staff to limit their travel during the closure period, as all domestic and some international flights were switched to Kaduna.
In July 2016, Sierra Leone’s defense attaché to Nigeria was kidnapped by men in military fatigues armed with AK-47 rifles at a fake checkpoint on the Abuja-Kaduna road.
And in another abduction against foreigners, in October, four Britons including a man and his wife working for a Christian charity were kidnapped in the southeastern Delta State.
The British government announced the following month that one of the hostages was killed, but the three others were freed.
Four US, Canadian captives freed in Nigeria: police
Four US, Canadian captives freed in Nigeria: police
Switzerland mourns Crans-Montana fire tragedy
- All of Switzerland will mark a national day of mourning Friday for the dozens of mostly teenagers killed when fire ravaged a ski resort bar crammed with New Year revellers
CRANS MONTANA: All of Switzerland will mark a national day of mourning Friday for the dozens of mostly teenagers killed when fire ravaged a ski resort bar crammed with New Year revellers.
Just over a week after the tragedy at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, the wealthy Alpine nation will come to a standstill for a minute of silence at 2:00 p.m. (1300 GMT).
A chorus of church bells will then ring throughout the country.
The moment of silence will stand as a “testament to the shared grief felt by the entire nation with all the families and friends directly affected,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
At the same time, a memorial ceremony for the victims will be held in Martigny, a town about 50 kilometers (31 miles) down the valley from Crans-Montana, which had been rendered all but inaccessible by a large snowstorm.
Inhabitants of the plush ski resort town will meanwhile be able to watch the ceremony as it is livestreamed to large screens, including at the congress center that for days after the tragedy accommodated families seeking news of missing loved ones.
Among ‘worst tragedies’
A memorial that has sprung up in front of the bar, loaded with flowers, candles and messages of grief and support, was covered in an igloo-like tarp Thursday to protect it from the heavy snowfall.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who has declared the fire “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced,” will be joined for the ceremony by his French and Italian counterparts, whose countries lost nine and six nationals respectively in the fire.
Top officials from Belgium, Luxembourg, Serbia and the European Union were also due to participate in the ceremony.
Most of those impacted by the inferno at Le Constellation were Swiss, but a total of 19 nationalities were among the fatalities and the wounded.
Half of those killed in the blaze were under 18, including some as young as 14.
Of those injured, 83 remain in hospital, with the most severely burned airlifted to specialist centers across Switzerland and abroad.
Prosecutors believe the blaze started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar’s basement section.
Experts have suggested that what appeared to be highly flammable foam may have caused a so-called flashover — a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in an enclosed space, trapping many of the young patrons.
Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.
On Tuesday, municipal authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.
‘Staggering’
The investigation underway will seek to shed light on the responsibilities of the authorities, but also of bar owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti.
The French couple, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, have been called in for questioning on Friday, sources close to the investigation told AFP.
The pair, who have not been detained, said in a statement Tuesday that they were “devastated and overwhelmed with grief,” and pledged their “full cooperation” with investigators.
They will need to answer numerous questions about why so many minors were in the bar, and whether fire safety standards were adhered to.
There has been much focus on the soundproofing foam, which, according to photos taken by the owners, had been added during renovations in 2015.
A video filmed by a member of the public, screened Monday by Swiss broadcaster RTS, showed that the danger was known years ago.
“Watch out for the foam!,” a bar employee said during 2019 New Year’s Eve celebrations, as champagne bottles with sparklers were brought out.
“This video is staggering,” Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several affected families, told AFP, saying it showed “there was an awareness of this risk — and that possibly this risk was accepted.”
