French hostage Francis Collomp has been freed almost a year after being kidnapped, according to a statement from the French president’s office on Sunday.<br /><br />The 63-year-old engineer was seized by gunmen who stormed his compound in December 2012 in Nigeria.<br /><br />This release comes just two weeks after four other French hostages were released in Niger.<br /><br />Seven French nationals are still being held in Syria, Mali and Nigeria.<br /><br />Francis Collomp was abducted by thirty armed Katsina State gunmen who killed two bodyguards and a neighbour. Ansaru, an Islamist group possibly related to the Nigerian group Boko Haram, had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, citing in particular the role of France in Mali.
