YAOUNDE, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A Cameroonian official kidnapped by Nigerian pirates was freed on Monday night, local officials and security sources said.

Roland Ewane, an administrative official for Idabato town in Cameroon's Bakassi Peninsula, which borders Nigeria, was abducted alongside an Idabato councilor in October.

Gilbert Guibai Baldena, an administrative official overseeing Ndian division where Idabato is located, told reporters that the captors freed the official by 7:30 p.m. local time (1830 GMT).

It was not immediately clear whether the councilor was also freed.

Roughly a month after the official was kidnapped, the pirates released a disturbing video showing him being tortured and demanded 700,000 U.S. dollars as ransom.

Officials did not reveal if the ransom was paid before he was freed. The sub-prefect is expected to meet with reporters on Tuesday.

Armed separatist groups are known to be active in the Bakassi Peninsula, which was once at the center of a boundary demarcation conflict between Cameroon and Nigeria. Enditem

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