Oil hostages rescue boosts Nigeria president

Nigeria’s military launched a co-ordinated air, naval and ground assault to free 19 hostages held in militant camps in the oil-rich southern delta, apparently routing the gunmen without causing any casualties.

Such an operation in the OPEC-member nation has been unheard of in the four years since a low-level insurgency has targeted oil pipelines and expatriate workers in the creeks of Niger Delta.