Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 01:40
AFP News Briefs ListKidnapped Frenchmen freed in Nigeria's oil hub: diplomats
Gunmen on Friday released two French oil workers seized one month ago in Nigeria's main oil producing region, a diplomat said.
"The French embassy confirms that those two men were released at around 8:00pm (1900 GMT) and they will be going back to France very soon," a French embassy official told AFP.
Gunmen seized the two from a bar in Onne near the oil hub of Port Harcourt on August 2. Police said the two were crew from the offshore oil services tug, Bourbon Apsara.
No details were given on the circumstances of the release but the French official expressed gratitude to "the Nigerian authorities for they way they dealt with this problem."
The most prominent armed group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) denied involvement in the kidnapping.
Police last month said no group claimed responsibility for the abduction and no demand for ransom was made.
In the past three years the Niger Delta has seen numerous kidnappings targeting foreign companies. They are claimed by armed groups who say they are fighting for a greater share of the oil wealth for the region's inhabitants.
Many armed groups collect ransoms in exchange for hostages.
Violence in the southern region has reduced Nigeria's oil production by a quarter since January 2006.
Nigeria was Africa's largest oil producer until it was overtaken in April by Angola, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Images
Gunmen on Friday released two French oil workers seized one month ago in Port Harcourt, seen here,Nigeria's main oil producing region, a diplomat said
© 2007 AFP Pius Utomi Ekpei
