Six abductees from University of Abuja rescued by police

Nigeria's security forces have rescued six people kidnapped by armed men earlier this week (November 2) from the University of Abuja near the international airport in the capital Abuja, police said on Friday.

According to the Abuja police spokeswoman Josephine Adeh. "All the victims from the University of Abuja have been rescued and reunited with their families,"

On Tuesday, gunmen broke into the University of Abuja (Uniabuja) and abducted staff members. The incident has raised security concerns about how safe the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and its environs are to residents.

After the incident, the police spokesperson confirmed that "criminals" had abducted six people.

University authorities also took to social media to announce the incident saying, four staff members and their children had been abducted.

Three days (Friday) on, the police said the hostages had been rescued in the "early hours of the day" in a joint operation by several security agencies.

Authorities of the University of Abuja also announced the release on the university’s Facebook page.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with some 210 million people, has been plagued by widespread crime.

For several months, gangs of armed criminals - known locally as "bandits" - have been laying waste to north-western and central Nigeria, looting and burning villages and carrying out kidnappings for ransom, particularly in schools.

According to UNICEF, more than 1,400 pupils and students have been kidnapped since the beginning of the year. Most of the kidnapped students are released by their captors after negotiations.