Six foreign oil workers, kidnapped 10 days ago in southern
Nigeria by a group of unidentified armed men, were released
Wednesday night, authorities said.
Magnus Abe, a spokesman for Rivers State government, confirmed
the release of the hostages, who he said "are looking well."
However, Abe said he had no information about who abducted the
foreigners.
The six men, including two Britons, one American, one German,
one Irish and one Pole, were kidnapped at gunpoint from a nightclub
in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt early last week.
Meanwhile, Abe said that a Lebanese man taken hostage in a
separate incident remained in captivity.
The latest release means that all those who were kidnapped --
except the Lebanese -- this month in seven separate cases in the
oil producing Niger Delta, have all been freed.
"We want to reassure international companies that Rivers State
is a safe place to do business," said Abe.
The rampant kidnappings over the past few weeks led to a
clampdown by the Nigerian government last week, during which 160
people were arrested.
Kidnappings of foreign oil workers and attacks on oil facilities
by militant youths since the beginning of this year have forced
Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa or the world's sixth
largest oil exporter, to cut production by 670,000 barrels per day,
or 26 percent of its crude production.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2006)
