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Nigeria kidnappers free UK girl Nigeria kidnappers free UK girl
(about 2 hours later)
Kidnappers in southern Nigeria have released a three-year-old British girl who was held hostage for four days. A three-year-old British girl has been freed by kidnappers in southern Nigeria after four days in captivity.
Margaret Hill has been reunited with her parents who say she is in good health but "covered in mosquito bites". Margaret Hill has been reunited with her parents, Mike and Oluchi Hill, who said she was in good health but "covered in mosquito bites".
The kidnappers had threatened to kill the girl unless a ransom was paid or her British father took her place. It is not known if any ransom was paid. The kidnappers had threatened to kill the girl unless a ransom was paid or Briton Mr Hill took her place. He told Sky News that no ransom had been paid.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "delighted" and thanked those who worked to secure her release. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "delighted" at the release.
"I am grateful to the Nigerian authorities for all their help and I hope the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice," he added.
Immense pressureImmense pressure
"I was delighted and relieved to hear of Margaret's release," he said. Margaret was snatched on Thursday, after gunmen smashed the window of a car driving her to school in Port Harcourt as it stood in traffic.
"I am grateful to the Nigerian authorities for all their help and I hope the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice."
Margaret was snatched from the car driving her to school on Thursday.
Her Nigerian mother, Oluchi Hill, had previously said the abductors had contacted her and demanded an unspecified ransom for Margaret's release.Her Nigerian mother, Oluchi Hill, had previously said the abductors had contacted her and demanded an unspecified ransom for Margaret's release.
The kidnappers had previously vowed to kill the girl unless her father, a British expatriate oil worker, took her place. The kidnappers had vowed to kill the girl unless her father, a British expatriate oil worker originally from Murton in County Durham, took her place.
Kidnapping has become the norm in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger delta region, the BBC's Alex Last says. Kidnapping has become the norm in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger delta region, the BBC's Alex Last says, but this time there was immense pressure on her captors.
But, he adds, this time there was immense pressure on her captors - not just from authorities but also from powerful local militant groups, who condemned the crime. The President of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua, called for the girl's release, and the region's main militant group - the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) - offered to help find her.
Our correspondent says more than 200 hostages have been taken by armed groups in the last 18 months in Nigeria, but none has ever been killed.
Margaret was the third child to be kidnapped in recent weeks.
The daughter of a Nigerian businessman and a local state legislator's daughter were both eventually released unharmed after ransom payments.