Four Burundian abductees in DR Congo released: police
Xinhua, April 26, 2017 Adjust font size:
Four Burundian nationals including a priest who had been abducted earlier this month at Gatumba near the Burundi-Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) border have been released, the Burundian police spokesman said Wednesday.
According to Burundian Police Spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye, all those released abductees were "in good shape" apart from small injuries on the feet of three ageing people because of a "long walk" between Burundi and the Congolese territory.
"All belongings of the four abductees including theirs shoes and other valuable objects were taken by the unidentified kidnappers," Nkurikiye said.
He however indicated that those abductees told investigators that they were not tortured, adding that they do not know whether their families paid ransoms in order to obtain the release.
Nkurikiye said that investigations are underway to identify the kidnappers.
Those four persons were abducted at Gatumba on April 9, 2017 in an ambush by armed people on a passenger minibus coming from the Burundian capital Bujumbura.
During that ambush, two persons were injured and evacuated to hospital.
Security has been occasionally disrupted in villages near Burundi's Rukoko forest reserve in Gihanga and at Gatumba, with thefts and ambushes on the road linking Bujumbura to Cibitoke and the road linking Bujumbura to Gatumba. Endit