Family celebrates oil-worker's release

The family of an Irish oil worker kidnapped in Nigeria 10 days ago were today celebrating after he was released unharmed.

Brian Fogarty, from Oughterard in Co Galway, was abducted along with five others by gunmen in the city of Port Harcourt.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said he was delighted to hear the Irishman had been freed and had been following the case closely.

The six men, including two hostages from Britain, a Polish man, an American boat captain and a German, were set free in Port Harcourt last night.

At about 10.30pm last night Mr Fogarty phoned his home in Clifden to tell his family he was freed.

His brother Paul said the family were overjoyed and relieved at his release.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish Embassy in Abuja remained in contact with authorities and Mr Fogarty’s family throughout the ordeal.

Rivers State government spokesman Magnus Abe last night confirmed all six men were set free in the Port Harcourt area.

The 39-year-old was with a group of foreign workers who were taken hostage 10 days ago by an armed gang that burst into a bar in the southern oil city. The kidnappers arrived shooting into the air and sent scores of people rushing for cover. They then escaped with their victims in a speedboat.

Mr Fogarty, who had arrived in Nigeria the day before the kidnapping, worked for US firm Halliburton. The family said he had worked in Nigeria before and was aware of the risks of being kidnapped for money.

It emerged the hostage’s father Des, who also worked in the oil industry, was himself kidnapped while working in the Middle East.

Foreign workers in Nigeria have had their movements severely restricted following a series of abductions in the country’s oil-rich south-eastern delta. Most of the hostages are eventually freed after their employers pay a ransom to their captives.