Maiduguri — Seven French citizens who were abducted in a town in Cameroon near the Nigerian border on Tuesday are reported to have been freed by their captors.

Locals in Dikwa town in northern Borno state told Daily Trust that the family was abandoned in a house in the town today.

They also claim the family have been evacuated to Maiduguri by a combined team of Soldiers, Policemen and Immigration officials.

The locals said the released family were unhurt.

However, the JTF and the Police are yet to issue an official confirmation of the release.

The family of seven, including four children, two parents and an uncle were abducted by six gunmen on three motor bikes while traveling near the Waza nature reserve in the far north of Cameroon. Their vehicle was later discovered in a river near the Cameroon border with Nigeria.

The father in the family is an employee in French gas company GDF Suez. It was later believed that their captors had moved them to Nigeria.