Nigerian Islamist militants free 3 aid workers, other civilian hostages - U.N.

Islamist militants released three aid workers and other civilians in northeast Nigeria who had been held hostage since late December, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the country said on Thursday.

The people were kidnapped on Dec. 22 by militants posing as soldiers who stopped a convoy of commercial vehicles travelling towards the city of Maiduguri, the state capital of the northeastern state of Borno.