ABUJA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A local female official kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Nigeria's southern state of Cross River last month has been freed from captivity by troops on a rescue mission, the Nigerian Army said on Thursday.
Gertrude Njar, the commissioner for women affairs in Cross River, had been held hostage since Feb. 1, when the gunmen kidnapped her in the southern part of Calabar, the capital of the southern state.
Njar was freed Wednesday by troops who acted on actionable intelligence on her whereabouts by laying "a tacit ambush for the kidnappers around the creek," Dorcas Aluko, a spokeswoman for the 13 Brigade Nigerian Army in Cross River, said in a statement.
Aluko said the troops tactically sprung an ambush to take the kidnappers by surprise while on a search for the victim, with the criminals fleeing into the creeks and abandoning the hostage.
The victim has been taken to a hospital for treatment ahead of a reunion with her family, she said, adding the troops had already intensified the search for the fleeing gunmen.
Armed attacks have been a primary security threat in parts of Nigeria, leading to deaths and kidnappings in recent months. ■