A French family of seven including four children kidnapped in north Cameroon and taken to Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram militants has been released, a senior Cameroon official said on Friday (April 19).

The family was abducted in February by men on motorcycles, armed with Kalashnikovs.

The incident took place in Dabanga about 10 km (six miles) from the Nigerian border near the Waza national park.

Gunmen claiming to be from Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram later released videos of the family, threatening to kill them if authorities in Nigeria and Cameroon did not release Muslim militants held there.

The volatile north east Nigerian town of Maiduguri is close to Cameroon's Waza National Park and is considered to be a Boko Haram stronghold.

The parents of the family, which included two boys and two girls as well as another relative, worked for French utility firm GDF Suez.

An official from the Cameroon presidency said the family had been handed to Cameroon authorities late on Thursday (April 18).

Presented by Adam Justice