Two South African hostages seized last week by pirates along with 25 other people aboard a vessel in Nigeria’s southern oil-producing region were freed on Tuesday, the military said.
Government army spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa said the pair was released around 6.00pm (17.00 GMT) “without payment of ransom”.
The most prominent armed group in the oil-rich region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), had earlier in the day promised to release the South Africans it rescued from pirates on Friday.
MEND said the two were among 27 rescued hostages, which also included 22 Nigerians and three people who are either British or Ukrainian.