NIGERIA: Government hands over two rescued Russians taken hostage two months ago by gunmen in the Niger Delta

Record ID: 235311

  • Title: NIGERIA: Government hands over two rescued Russians taken hostage two months ago by gunmen in the Niger Delta
  • Date: 21st February 2009
  • Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (FEBRUARY 20, 2009) (REUTERS) GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS RECEIVING THE HOSTAGES FROM THE NAVY PERSONNEL RESCUED HOSTAGES SITTING TOGETHER JOURNALISTS AT THE EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIGERIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHETTIMA MUSTAPHA, SAYING: "I want to express my concern about the suffering they have gone through. That was not intended but I also want to express my pleasure that they have been rescued and they are presently hail and hearty." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALEXANDER POLYAKOV, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR, SAYING: "Thank you, thank you all. I sincerely wish that despite the fact that today's event is a joyous one, sooner or later we wouldn't need such events, because as his excellency the honourable minister says - the problem of the Niger Delta will be solved finally forever." RESCUED HOSTAGES POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH MINISTER RESCUED HOSTAGES WAITING TO LEAVE THE MILITARY COMPOUND
  • Embargoed: 8th March 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABGCBM20LXHODDIVG9AXYHAPT1
  • Story Text: Two Russian expatriates kidnapped two months ago by gunmen in the Niger Delta were rescued on Thursday by Nigerian soldiers on routine patrol, a military spokesman said.
    A military official said the pair had escaped from their captors and wandered in the delta for several days before being spotted by Nigerian troops.
    "I want to express my concern about the suffering they have gone through. That was not intended but I also want to express my pleasure that they have been rescued and they are presently hail and hearty," Nigerian Defence Minister Shettima Mustapha said at a ceremony where the former hostages were presented in front of the media.
    Gunmen in speedboats kidnapped the two Russians on Dec. 20.
    They worked for Nigeria's sole aluminium smelter plant ALSCON in the port town of Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom. The firm is owned by the world's largest aluminium producer, Russia's United Company RUSAL <OKSAI.RTS>.
    "Thank you, thank you all. I sincerely wish that despite the fact that today's event is a joyous one, sooner or later we wouldn't need such events, because as his excellency the honourable minister says - the problem of the Niger Delta will be solved finally forever," said Russian ambassador Alexander Polyakov, at the same media event in Abuja.
    Hundreds of foreigners have been seized in the Niger Delta since early 2006, most of whom have been released unharmed.
    The insecurity in the delta, home to Nigeria's oil and gas sector, has cut the country's oil output by a fifth over the past three years.
    Militants say they are fighting for a greater share of the region's oil wealth after decades of neglect. But the breakdown of law and order in the delta has allowed criminal gangs to thrive by kidnapping for ransom and stealing crude oil.
    Nigeria's most prominent militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), last month ended a five-month-old ceasefire and threatened more attacks on the oil sector.
    The group is still holding two British oil workers kidnapped more than five months ago in the delta.
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