According to Punch, the gunmen abducted the expatriates – two Americans and two Canadians as they were travelling to Abuja.

The expatriates, who were identified as Nate Vangeest, John Kirlin, Rachael Kelley and Dean Slocum were handed over to the American embassy.

Also, two of the abductors were arrested and investigations are on to round-up the rest of the gang.

“Two suspects have been arrested and efforts are being made to arrest other members of the gang,” a senior police officer who confirmed the arrests said.

Speaking to Reuters, the spokesman for Kaduna state police command, Mukhtar Aliyu said “It was the efforts of the police, through the directive of the inspector general of police, that yielded their release last night."

Aliyu also confirmed that no ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

Safety of expatriates in Kaduna

You will recall that in February 2017,two German archaeologists were kidnapped in Kaduna state.

They were working with Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments on an excavation site in southern Kaduna.

Reports say the abductors demanded for a ransom of N60 million (about $200,000) before they would release they Germans.

The archaeologists were however rescuedfollowing the deployment of special squad by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.