Five Chinese telecommunications workers have been freed in Nigeria two weeks after being taken hostage by gunmen, the Foreign Ministry announced. The workers, who were taken in Rivers state in the oil-rich southern part of Nigeria, were handed over to their lawyers on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post reported. According to state media, the five men were found to be "physically weak but basically in good health". The workers were employees of Sichuan Telecommunications Company and were working on a project to extend telephone services to rural areas. Nigerian separatists kidnapped more than 60 foreigners last year, most of them oil workers.
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