A Nigerian military official said on Saturday four abducted Chinese nationals had been rescued after a gun battle with sea pirates.
Army spokesman Maj Ojo Adelegan said the four expatriates were kidnapped on Friday while travelling from Lagos to Ondo state in the south.
He said the military received a distress call and captured one of the kidnappers. He added that some of the Chinese nationals were wounded and all are receiving treatment.
The military declined to give names or other details.
China’s embassy has not yet commented.
Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria but generally involves no fatalities. Hostages are returned unharmed once money exchanges hands, though a German construction worker was killed in southwestern Nigeria in 2015.