Two nuns who were kidnapped in south eastern Nigeria last week have been released unconditionally.
A statement released by their Order said Sisters Vincentia Nwankwo and Sister Grace Okoli were also in good health.
They were abducted on 7 January while travelling back from a Vocational Association meeting in the town of Ogboji. At the time, the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) appealed for the Sisters' unconditional release and told Premier it was concerned that they had been kidnapped in the south of the country, a region where such attacks are uncommon. But it said local armed criminals had recently stepped up their activities in the area.
To date, most attacks on Christians have taken place in the northern part of Nigeria.
Sister Vincentia is the Principal of Archbishop Charles Heerey Memorial Model Secondary School in Ufuma, while Sister Grace Mariette is a teacher at Immaculata Girls Model Secondary School in Nnewi.
In the statement, Sr. Maria Sobenna Ikeotuonye, the Secretary-General of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Mother of Christ, expressed her joy at their release.