Ten Indian hostages freed in Nigerian oil delta

Port Harcourt (Nigeria), June 16: Militants released 10 Indian hostages in Nigeria's oil-producing delta as thousands welcomed the return of a rebel leader to the region's capital today.

The release of the Indians after more than two weeks in captivity is the latest sign of easing tensions in the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region where militant attacks and kidnappings have crippled Africa's largest oil industry.

The Indians, including at least three senior executives of Indonesian petrochemical company Indorama and some family members, were abducted by gunmen from their residence on June 1.

''The Indorama hostages were released last night by the militants. Right now they are with their employer. They are 10 in all and in high spirits,'' said army spokesman Sagir Musa.

Their captors said they freed them in response to Thursday's release on bail of former militia leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who arrived back in Port Harcourt today, a security source in an oil company said.

Asari, who led the rebel Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force until his imprisonment in 2005, was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters at the air force base.

In an interview with Reuters yesterday, Asari said he wanted to unite splintered rebel groups around his radical agenda for independence for Nigeria's oil heartland.

Asari said he was against kidnapping, but not opposed to action that disrupted oil production. Militant attacks have shut about 600,000 barrels per day of Nigerian oil output.

POVERTY

Activists in the delta hope Asari's release will open the way for talks between the newly inaugurated government of President Umaru Yar'Adua and delta militants over long-standing grievances of poverty and neglect.

Most delta residents live in poverty, without access to electricity, clean water and decent schools, despite the billions of dollars of oil extracted from their ancestral land every year.

Tensions have eased since Yar'Adua's inauguration on May 29, and militant groups have released about 30 hostages. About 200 foreign workers have been kidnapped since Asari's detention on treason charges in 2005, but almost all have been released after the payment of ransom.

Asari's release had been one of several militant demands, which also included more autonomy over the region's oil wealth and compensation for decades of oil pollution.

Asari said the lawlessness could take up to a year to bring under control if talks went well with the government.

Two Indians working for a rubber company were abducted in Delta state yesterday. A spokesman for the military said troops had arrested three members of the gang involved and hoped to track down the hostages soon.

The military had previously reported the victims also included two Lebanese, but army spokesman Omale Ochagwuba said this later turned out to be incorrect.

REUTERS

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