NIGERIA: Kidnapped oil workers freed by Nigerian militants meet Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo

Record ID: 236516

  • Title: NIGERIA: Kidnapped oil workers freed by Nigerian militants meet Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
  • Date: 31st January 2006
  • Summary: (BN15) ABUJA, NIGERIA (JANUARY 30, 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT OBASANJO SHAKING HANDS WITH THE RELEASED HOSTAGES IN THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA ABUJA VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT OBASANJO ADDRESSING RELEASED HOSTAGES WHILE SHELL NIGERIA MANAGING DIRECTOR BASIL OMIYI LOOKS ON
  • Embargoed: 15th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3THG7GLSQGFGXV0MTY9DQDKBM
  • Story Text: Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday (January 30) met four foreign oil workers after militants released the four earlier in the day, ending a 19-day hostage crisis.
    However, the militants threatened another wave of attacks on oil facilities in the world's eighth-largest exporter.
    The hostages -- an American, Briton, Bulgarian and Honduran -- were abducted from an offshore oilfield in the southern Niger Delta on Jan. 11 during a six-week campaign of attacks on oil platforms and pipelines which cut output by a tenth.
    Looking tired and unshaven after almost three weeks in the humid, mosquito-infested swamps, the four men were flown out by helicopter and taken to the capital Abuja, 300 miles (500 km) to the north, to see Obasanjo.
    Obasanjo denounced the kidnappers, who had demanded more local control over the delta's oil wealth, the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders and compensation for pollution, as "rascals who are practising the things they watch on television".
    The Ijaw are the biggest ethnic group in the delta.
    A militant source familiar with the negotiations said 100 million naira ($770,000) was paid for the hostages' release, but this was denied by the militants themselves.
    "The release of the hostages was done purely on humanitarian grounds and no request was made for money," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an email.
    "This release does not signify a ceasefire or softening of our position to destroy the oil export capability of the Nigerian government," it added.
    The kidnappers also extracted a promise of no military reprisals and of more Ijaw in government jobs, a diplomat said.
    The militants warned foreigners to leave the delta, which pumps most of Nigeria's 2.4 million barrels a day, and said they aimed to cut oil exports by 30 percent in February.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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