American Woman Kidnapped In Nigeria Regains Freedom
Featured, Latest Headlines Saturday, March 7th, 2015
An American woman kidnapped by masked gunmen in central Nigeria last month was released on Friday and handed over to US government officials, police told AFP.
Phyllis Sortor, a missionary with the Free Methodist Church, was seized on February 23 in the village of Emiworo in Kogi state.
Phyllis Sortor, a missionary with the Free Methodist Church
“She has been rescued and given to the American authorities,” Kogi state police spokesman Collins Sola Adebayo said, adding that no ransom was paid “as far as police are concerned.”
An AFP journalist at the handover in the state capital Lokoja said the 71-year-old Sortor appeared unharmed with no visible signs of abuse.
Kogi’s police chief Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said she was dropped by her captors in the bushlands outside the village of Eru and “raised an alarm which attracted the villagers.”
Police deployed to the area and brought Sortor to Lokoja.
Her church confirmed the release but declined to provide details on the circumstances.
“As a matter of sound policy, and to help protect the many, many people who helped secure Phyllis’ freedom, we will have no comment concerning the efforts that were undertaken to secure her release,” Bishop David Kendall said in a statement.
AFP
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