The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, pictured on September 11, 2007. A British citizen who was kidnapped by gunmen shortly after landing at the airport has been released, an official said. (AFP/File)
LAGOS (AFP) – A British citizen who was kidnapped by gunmen shortly after landing at the international airport in Nigeria's largest city has been released, an official said Monday.
"We can confirm the release of the British national... following his abduction on July 16," said Wale Adebajo, spokesman at Britain's Deputy High Commission in Lagos, specifying that the hostage was freed on Sunday.
He made no comment on whether a ransom had been paid.
Security sources had said that the abduction was carried out as the Briton was travelling from the airport in Lagos' Ikeja neighbourhood towards the city centre.
His driver was reported to have been shot and injured in the attack.
In southern Nigeria, there have been waves of kidnappings targeting foreigners, with the hostages typically released following a ransom payment.
Employers and officials rarely discuss such payments.
Foreigners have also been targeted in the north, but those attacks are considered different. They have been blamed on Islamist extremists and in several cases have led to the deaths of the hostages.
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