kidnappers have released the 78-year-old father of ex-Central Bank of Nigeria governor Charles Soludo 10 days after he was seized from his home, police said Thursday.

"Mr. Simeon Soludo was dropped on a road near his village last night," Anambra State police spokesman Emeka Chukwuemeka told AFP.

Chukwuemeka said Soludo, who was abducted by gunmen who invaded his compound in Isuofia on October 27, was released "unhurt".

Police could not immediately say if a ransom had been paid before he was freed by the kidnappers who had demanded 500 million naira (3.3 million dollars, 2.2 million euros) from the family.

Family sources blamed political opponents of Charles Soludo, the former CBN chief for the kidnapping.

Soludo, who left office in June, was last month controversially nominated candidate for the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) for upcoming state governorship elections. Aggrieved aspirants are contesting the nomination in the courts.

In 2006, unknown gunmen shot the father in the eye when his son was in the final stages of implementing sweeping reforms of Nigeria's troubled banking sector.

Kidnapping for ransom, which occurs frequently in Nigeria's southern oil hub, has recently spread across the vast west African country.

Most hostages are released unharmed after a few days or weeks, often when a ransom is paid, yet in some cases victims are killed.

In the first six months of this year, more than 500 people were abducted across the country, with 10 of them killed, according to the Police Affairs Minister Yakubu Lame