Two German archaeologists who were kidnapped while working at a dig site in Kaduna have been released and are doing well, officials have confirmed.
“The two archaeologists from the Goethe University in Frankfurt are free. They are in the care of the German embassy in Abuja,” a source at the German foreign ministry told AFP.
“They are doing well under the circumstances,” the source added, without providing further details.
The pair, who were working with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, were abducted Wednesday morning from an excavation site in Kaduna state, where they were looking into ancient Nok culture.
Nigerian police confirmed the men’s release but said the abductors were still at large.
“The kidnappers released them after we mounted pressure on them,” said Kaduna state police spokesman Usman Aliyu, stressing that there had been no rescue operation.
“I’m not aware any ransom was paid and there has been no arrest of any of the people involved in the abduction. But we are trailing them,” he added.
German media identified the men as professor Peter Breunig and his co-worker Johannes Behringer.
Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said on Thursday that the pair had been assigned security personnel but that they did not accompany them to the dig site.
A local resident who asked not to be named told AFP that the two were seized by abductors wielding guns and machetes who did not however take the two female members of the archaeological team with them.
“Surprisingly, they did not kidnap the two female German colleagues of the men. They fired shots into the air to scare off the villagers before abducting the Germans,” the witness recounted.
Two locals who tried to prevent the men from being captured were killed, he added, a toll confirmed by police.
