The five released Chinese telecom workers taken hostage on
January 5 in the Nigerian southern state of Rivers arrived in
Beijing on Monday afternoon.
They took a China Southern Airlines flight coded CE332 which
left the Nigerian city of Lagos at about 3 PM on Sunday local time
(1400GMT).
Officials from China's Consulate-General in Lagos saw them off
at the Lagos International Airport and wished them a smooth
trip.
The five Chinese workers were kidnapped on January 5 by gunmen
from their residence in Rumuakunde Emouha, a village about 35 km
away from Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria's southern state of
Rivers.
After 13 days of intense work by a team comprised of Chinese
embassy staff and the Sichuan Telecommunication Company for which
the kidnapped work, the five were released on January 17 local
time.
They arrived in the Nigerian capital of Abuja to recover and
were warmly attended by the Chinese embassy.
(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007)