Nigerian police arrest 2 suspects, kill 1 in kidnappings

WARRI, Nigeria – Nigerian police say two suspects in the abduction of four British missionaries have been arrested while a third was killed in a shootout.

State police spokesman Andrew Aniamaka said Thursday that the suspects were arrested in Nigeria’s oil hub of Warri on Wednesday.

The Britons were working for a Christian medical charity providing free services to residents living near isolated Niger Delta creeks when they were kidnapped in mid-October.

U.K. authorities have said three of the missionaries were released, but the fourth — Dr. Ian Squire — was killed.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria. A number of high-profile abductions have been carried out by militants in the Niger Delta region and by the Islamist group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria.