by Tolu Orekoya

Nigeria has been in the news lately for a series of kidnappings and failed rescue attempts, resulting in the deaths of foreigners who had been kidnapped by religious fundamentalist groups.

The first case involved a Briton and an Italian man in March and the second, a German who was killed before his would-be rescuers could reach him in May.

There have been two separate incidences of success over the last couple of days, the first of which was involved an Italian engineer, who was kidnapped in Kwara State. He was release on Friday, according to an Italian foreign ministry spokesman. Details of his release have not been made public.

In a separate incident, an American business man lured to the city of Cotonou, Benin Republic by his kidnappers was rescued in a joint effort between the Benenoise and Nigerian security agencies. The kidnappers had tempted the man with a lucrative business deal, kidnapped him, and demanded a ransom. He was rescued, and his kidnappers arrested.