Remaining 89 kidnapped Nigerian Christians return home

The last 89 Christians held captive since criminal gangs attacked three churches in northern Nigeria in mid-January were released on Thursday.

The worshippers arrived on a bus escorted by security forces and were received by the governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani.

He said they were the last group of the nearly 200 people abducted during Sunday services on 18 January.

"I am happy to announce that all of them have been certified medically fit, and they have all returned home, and they are at home now,” he said.

The circumstances of their release were not revealed. Paying ransom is illegal in Nigeria, but the government is suspected of resorting to it regularly.

The Kaduna kidnappings followed another mass abduction and subsequent release -- of hundreds of Catholic schoolchildren in neighbouring Niger State late last year.

Nigeria is plagued by a security crisis with armed gangs, jihadist groups, and farmer-herder conflict in several parts of the country.