Kidnapped Journalists freed

Four journalists who were kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria were freed on Sunday.

The journalists spent seven days in captivity and were reportedly released in a forest in a remote area of Abia state. Although the kidnappers originally demanded a ransom of 250 million naira (1.3 million euros), a police spokesperson said no money was paid.

"Traumatic, confined, frightening," was how Abdulwahab Oba, one of the kidnapped journalists, described the experience.

"We'd almost given up," Oba told RFI. "We had to sleep on the ground without a mat, we were chained on our legs."

The abduction of the reporters created outrage in the country with Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan calling it an "embarrassing situation".

Gunmen had ambushed a convoy of cars carrying the journalists in the southern state of Akwa Ibom on Monday as they travelled to Aba, in neighbouring Abia state.

"I just feel so happy that our brothers are safe and no one succumbed to the threat of the kidnappers who are criminals that go about torturing people emotionally," Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili told the News Agency of Nigeria.

Before the kidnappers released their hostages they took all their personal belongings.

RFI

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Siasia lands Super Eagles job

Barring last minute hitches, the new leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation will announce the appointment of a new coach for the senior national team, the Super Eagles and the lucky man is no other person than the former U-23 chief coach, Samson Siasia.

Trustsports gathered exclusively yesterday that the former international was picked ahead of other coaches who showed interest in taking over from Lars Lagerback because he is the man Nigerians want for the job.

According to the NFF technical committee member who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Nigeria Football Federation is not bigger than the whole country and so if it is Siasia that the country wants for Eagles job, then the wish of Nigerians must be obeyed.

He said beside the wishes of Nigerians, the technical committee settled for Siasia because he has demonstrated the requisite ability to identify good players as he showed his stuff when he was in charge of the U-23 and later U20 national teams.

"We have settled for Siasia because he is the one that Nigerians want and since we are not bigger than the whole country, we have decided to do the wish of Nigerians. It is not a hidden fact that Siasia is loved by Nigerian football fans and there is no iota of doubt that he has what is needed to do this job.

"Moreover, we are embarking on a re-building process and the best man for the job is Siasia. He is known for discovering talent and this is the most reason why we have settled for him", he stated.

In addition, the NFF bigwig disclosed that Siasia has been contacted and is pleased with the offer as he has already expressed readiness to accept the offer.

He said: "We have been discussing with Siasia and he has agreed to coach Eagles. This is a rare opportunity and I am sure he will not have any reason to think twice before taking this offer. He is patriotic and this is a national call which he will surely be glad with".

In a related development, he revealed that Austin Eguaveon will be appointed the chief coach of the national U-23 team.

He said the former international has accepted the offer and is certainly pleased with it.

The member of NFF Executive Committee said a meeting will be held today between the technical committee and the two coaches to finalize discussions after which their appointments will be made public.

Daily Trust

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Gunmen kidnap 3 local journalists

Gunmen kidnapped three Nigerian journalists and a driver traveling through the country's oil-rich, but volatile southern delta, a colleague said Monday, the latest troubling sign of insecurity in the West African nation.

The reporters had just left a conference in Akwa Ibom state Sunday when a speeding car filled with gunmen forced their bus to stop, said Mohammed Garba, president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The gunmen got on board and commandeered the bus, Garba said.

Garba said one of the journalists called him several hours later at the request of the gunmen. Garba said the kidnappers made a ransom demand of $1.67 million.

"We tried to negotiate," Garba said. "Unfortunately, the abductors have not been so friendly."

Attacks against journalists aren't uncommon in Nigeria, a country of 150 million where corruption pervades government and business. A political reporter and editor for a Nigerian newspaper was killed by gunmen at his home in September and beatings happen during elections and police actions.

But kidnappings of local journalists remain rare as many have low wages and must sell advertisements for their sections. Some rely on cash payments from interview subjects or "brown envelope" bribes slipped into briefing materials at news conferences.

In March, kidnappers seized three sports journalists from a South Africa-based satellite network. Gunmen later released the men.

"It was unbelievable to us. I never thought that journalists could be kidnapped," Garba said. "Journalists in Nigeria are poorly paid. If really these guys are looking for money, they have made the wrong move."

Militants and criminal gangs once targeted only foreign oil workers and contractors for six-figure ransoms in the Niger Delta, a region of swamps, mangrove fields and palm-tree-lined creeks about the size of Portugal. Now, with oil firms keeping their workers hidden behind razor wire and under paramilitary protection, gangs have increasingly targeted middle-class Nigerian families unable to afford that security.

The government offered an amnesty deal that calmed much of the militancy there, but groups have grown impatient with what they describe as a slow response to their demands.

This kidnapping "has further exposed the level of insecurity in that region and Nigeria as a whole," Garba said. "The government has to address this problem."

AP

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