The last 89 Christians held captive since criminal gangs attacked three churches in northern Nigeria in mid-January were released on Thursday, according to local officials and an AFP journalist.
The worshippers, dressed in yellow, arrived on a bus escorted by security forces, and were received by the governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani, who said 183 people were initially abducted.
They were snatched from three churches during Sunday services on January 18, in the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.
The attacks have piled international scrutiny on insecurity in the country.
“Here we have 172, but the numbers that were abducted at the beginning were 183,” said the governor, adding 11 escaped.
He said 89 were “rescued only yesterday, or early morning of today”, adding that 83 “returned about three days ago”.
But a local chief told AFP at the weekend that 80 had returned home, having fled during the attack to hide in other villages.
The circumstances of their release were not revealed. Paying ransom is illegal in Nigeria, but the government is suspected of resorting to it regularly.
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