Kidnapped American Free Methodist Church missionary Freed

American missionary Phyllis Sortor, who was kidnapped last month by masked gunmen in central Nigeria, has been freed, a U.S. official confirmed Friday.

Officials refused to provide details of her release, but said it involved some form of negotiations.

Five men abducted Sortor, a missionary from Seattle with the Free Methodist Church, from her workplace February 23 and demanded a ransom of 60 million Naira ($301,500), Kogi state police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said.

Sortor runs a nongovernmental organization that educates nomadic Fulani children, the police commissioner said. 

Kogi state is located away from the areas where Boko Haram operates, making it likely that the kidnapping is not related to them. But there is the possibility that an offshoot group could have kidnapped Sortor, or that she might be sold to another group.

Source: cnn