- Title: NIGERIA: Gunmen free nine abducted Korean oil workers, security stepped up
- Date: 13th January 2007
- Summary: (BN11) YENAGOA, NIGERIA (JANUARY 12, 2006)(REUTERS) STREETS OF YENAGOA WITH INCREASED SECURITY VARIOUS OF ARMED SECURITY MEN PATROLLING THE STREET SOLDIERS CORDON OFF STREET LEADING TO DAEWOO OFFICE (SOUNDBITE)(English) MICHAEL OKIBIRI YENAGOA, RESIDENT, SAYING: "At this point in time I think kidnapping wouldn't solve the problem first of all; I think the militants and the government have to get on a round table to look at the issues they are asking for and government on their own part should look earnestly with sincerity of purpose to stop what is actually going on because whether you like it or not - yes people kidnapped, foreigners. In the long run it's going to affect the image of the country and that's what the government shouldn't be in support of." VARIOUS OF WOMEN PADDLING WOOD CANOE
- Embargoed: 28th January 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Reuters ID: LVA1O6D33KYIYBI9WKH90OTLEMZT
- Story Text: Nine South Korean oil workers abducted from an oil services base in Nigeria's southern delta were freed unharmed on Friday (January 12) after three days in captivity, a government spokesman said.
On Wednesday, gunmen in six boats invaded the riverside base in Bayelsa state and kidnapped the nine men after blowing up part of an office building.
"The Korean hostages have been released," a spokesman for the Bayelsa state government said. "They were released unharmed this evening and they have been handed over to their employers."
The nine were working for South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction, which is working on a pipeline project in Bayelsa state, when they were kidnapped apparently for ransom.
Their abduction happened less than a week after five Chinese telecom workers were kidnapped for ransom in another area of the lawless delta, which accounts for all the 2.5 million barrels of oil per day output of the world's eighth biggest exporter.
The Chinese workers are yet to be released.
Hostages in the Niger Delta are usually kept for a few days in remote settlements accessible only by boat through mangrove-lined creeks, before being released unharmed after their employers or local authorities pay money.
One Nigerian and one Briton were, however, killed last year in separate botched attempts by troops to free them.
Security remains tight in the Delta, where crime and militancy flourish. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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