Daily Independent (Lagos)
Ofonime Umanah And Paul Arhewe
6 October 2008
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Sunday released 19 hostages held in Rivers State, but said it would continue to hold onto two Britons and a Ukrainian "for security reasons".
"The hostages are Nigerians rescued from pirates," MEND said in a statement on Sunday.
It said the 19 Nigerians were part of a group of 27 hostages the group decided to detain after liberating them from "pirates" in mid-September.
According to MEND, three foreign nationals still being held were "two Britons and one Ukrainian".
"Due to the location the expatriates were kept for safety, they cannot be released at this time for security reasons," the statement added.
MEND had previously said the hostages comprised 22 Nigerians and two South Africans as well as two Britons and a Ukrainian. The South African pair regained freedom on September 18.
The release of the 19 Nigerians followed that of a British national kidnapped last month in Nigeria's oil hub of Port Harcourt, who was freed without a ransom.
The most prominent militant group in Niger Delta, MEND, declared a ceasefire on September 21 following a week of attacks on oil platforms and flow stations.
The attacks caused Nigeria to lose one quarter of its oil production and its position as the biggest crude oil producer in Africa to Angola.
The group said it was fighting for a larger share of Nigeria's oil revenue to benefit the local population.
However, MEND said on Sunday that it had secured the release of six Filipinos kidnapped by suspected sea pirates early on Saturday by armed men who attacked their vesel near Bonny oil terminal. The group also said, it was not in custody of the Finance Manager of Intels, Betram Ajoku.
The group was responding to enquiries by Daily Independent after it announced the release of the hostages in the early hours of Sunday.
MEND's spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said in a statement on the Internet that his colleagues actually asked the kidnappers to release the Filipinos to them, adding that because of the situation in the creeks where they were kept, it was difficult to release them immediately to their company.
Gbomo, however, denied that MEND knew anything about the whereabouts of Ajoku, who was abducted by unknown persons last Thursday just as he was about to be driven into his compound.
On Saturday, the pastor of the church where Ajoku fellowships, Emmanuel Ogbechie, had spoken of difficulties in getting information of his whereabouts, although he said prayers were being offered for his release.
According to Ogbechie, "We are praying for his release and we will continue to pray for him. We believe our God will bring him back alive and well without any hurt. We may not see him or know where he is now, but our spirit is with him.
"Our only challenge is that we are finding it difficult to reach his company to know about our sister's (the wife) welfare. We understand that she was moved out of the house, and in the last two days we have been having difficulties reaching her.
"But we are confident that it is well with her and the husband. Our plea is that the security agencies should redouble their efforts and ensure that our brother is freed from the hands of his abductors," he said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
