While the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) says the broadcasters who were kidnapped in Nigeria have been freed, one of the crew members has been confirmed dead while of two others are still missing.
According to reports, the crew - which include freelancers who also do work for South African broadcaster SuperSport - were victims of a kidnapping while travelling from Lagos to Uyo to cover the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Nigeria and Libya.
IOL Sport understands that none of the kidnapped crew were from South Africa.
Nigerian football journalist Colin Udoh posted on X, saying that a “former SuperSport colleague” who was part of the crew had been killed during the kidnapping.
“TRAGEDY: A journalist, one of my former SuperSport colleagues, was killed yesterday when members of the production crew for Friday’s game against Libya were kidnapped on their way to Uyo. Some of the crew have been freed, while at least 2 others are still unaccounted for,” Udoh posted on the social media platform.
According to Udoh, the driver decided to take a short-cut through a known hotspot in order to save on fuel before the incident happened.
The team were going by road to Uyo. According to reports, the driver decided to take a short-cut through a known hotspot in order to save on fuel ⛽️
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According to SWAN six members of the crew were rescued after joint-operation between the Nigerian police and the army.
“We want to inform our members across Nigeria and beyond that some of the sports journalists who were earlier kidnapped on their way to cover the first leg of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Super Eagles and Mediterranean Knights of Libya in Uyo, have been released,” SWAN said in a statement.
“SWAN therefore commends the security operatives, particularly the Nigerian army and police for their prompt action which ensured that up to six of the held sports journalists regained their freedom with efforts to get the remaining person freed.”
“The rescued media practitioners, mostly camera and photo journalists are now on their way to either reunite with families or move on with other official duties.”
@JohnGoliath82