Abdulgafar Alabelewe, the correspondent of The Nation Newspaper, Kaduna who was kidnapped and recently rescued by Nigerian security operatives, on Sunday said he never thought he would breathe the air of freedom within a week.

Alabelewe and Abdulraheem Aodu of the Blueprint Newspaper, alongside their family members, were abducted from their separate homes in Kaduna last week.

In a statement by Rabiu Ibrahim, Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alabelewe thanked the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and his team for their swift intervention.

He stated that the rescue mission that brought them out of the bush on Saturday gave them hope in the country and confidence in the government’s seriousness about tackling the problem of kidnapping, stressing that he never thought they would be rescued within a week.

He said, “We are grateful that the government swung into action and ensured that we were released.”

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had welcomed the release of the two Kaduna-based journalists, who were abducted from their homes on the outskirts of Kaduna over the weekend.