The five released Chinese telecom workers taken hostage on January 5 in the Nigerian southern state of Rivers arrived in Beijing on Monday afternoon.

 

They took a China Southern Airlines flight coded CE332 which left the Nigerian city of Lagos at about 3 PM on Sunday local time (1400GMT).

 

Officials from China's Consulate-General in Lagos saw them off at the Lagos International Airport and wished them a smooth trip. 

 

The five Chinese workers were kidnapped on January 5 by gunmen from their residence in Rumuakunde Emouha, a village about 35 km away from Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria's southern state of Rivers. 

 

After 13 days of intense work by a team comprised of Chinese embassy staff and the Sichuan Telecommunication Company for which the kidnapped work, the five were released on January 17 local time. 

 

They arrived in the Nigerian capital of Abuja to recover and were warmly attended by the Chinese embassy.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2007)