Two kidnapped oil workers released in Nigeria

Two of seven foreign oil workers kidnapped by ethnic militants in Nigeria’s volatile oil delta have been released, a state government official said today.

Ijaw militants who captured the seven expatriates hostage on Thursday have demanded five million naira (€30,000) ransom for their release, said Abel Oshevire, a spokesman for the Delta state government, speaking in a telephone interview.

Oshevire said the militants had released two of the captives, but didn’t know their nationalities and could give no other details. It was not immediately possible to independently confirm the releases.

The police and military have been asked to “resolve the problem,” Oshevire added.

Colonel Ganiyu Adewale, a defence ministry spokesman, said he was unaware of the incident. Police officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The British Foreign Office said on Friday that seven oil workers – including a Briton, two Colombians and an Australian – had been abducted in Nigeria.

It was not yet clear who kidnapped them, the department said, although Oshevire said they were Ijaw militants who intermittently launch attacks on rival Itsekiris, oil companies and government security forces.

Hostage-takings are common in Nigeria’s oil delta, where activists, thugs and striking workers frequently target oil companies with sabotage, kidnappings and other attacks in a bid to extort pay-offs. The hostages are rarely harmed.

The British worker, whose identity was not released, was kidnapped on Thursday in the south-eastern Warri region of the country where he worked for a firm that contracted staff to oil companies, a Foreign Office spokesman said.

“We can confirm that a British national was abducted on November 27 along with a number of his colleagues of various nationalities in the Warri area of Nigeria,” the Foreign Office spokesman said. “It is still unclear who they would have been abducted by.

“We are speaking to local authorities to find out what has happened and who the perpetrators were,” he said.

Bredero Shaw, a pipeline coating company for which at least three of the victims reportedly worked, said the kidnapping had taken place as the workers tested an evacuation boat on the river behind the plant.

No details were available of exactly what happened.

Colombia said two of its nationals, both of whom worked for Bredero Shaw, were kidnapped, and Australia confirmed a 27-year-old Australian was among those seized. Britain said a Russian was believed to have been abducted.

The British man also reportedly worked for Bredero Shaw.

Bredero Shaw’s safety manager Ted Scheffey said yesterday that one of the hostages had been freed, but did not identify him by name or nationality.

The six had been treated well and were not harmed, he said.

In April, about 100 Nigerian oil workers took 170 Nigerians and 97 foreign colleagues hostage during a wildcat strike over transportation and other demands. The rigs were about 25 miles off Nigeria’s southern coast.