LAGOS: A senior Nigerian journalist who was seized from her home last month has been released, her newspaper and police said on Saturday.
The Vanguard newspaper announced on its website that Donu Kogbara, who was kidnapped on August 30, was no longer being held but gave no further details.
Ahmed Mohammed, police spokesman in the southern Rivers state, told AFP: "Donu Kogbara has regained her freedom.
"She was released some minutes after two (Saturday morning, 0100 GMT). She is fine. I was with her in her house in Port Harcourt until seven this morning.
"The investigation is still ongoing on the motives for her abduction but we would not want to go into details at this stage."
Unknown gunmen abducted Kogbara, who has written a column for the Vanguard daily for 30 years and also worked for British newspapers the Daily Mail and Sunday Times plus broadcasters the BBC and Channel 4.
The motive for her capture was not clear but her columns have previously aired strong opinions on politics and social issues in Nigeria.
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists said last week she had previously called for employees of former president Goodluck Jonathan to be "rounded up, one by one, and arrested, named, blamed, shamed and jailed".
Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state, is the hub of the oil-rich Niger delta and seen as a stronghold of Jonathan, who hails from neighbouring Bayelsa state.
Kidnapping for ransom is common in the region and in the past has even seen family members of serving government ministers seized.
Most victims are set free unharmed once the ransom has been paid.
AFP
