Niger
Delta rebels dash hope of hostage release, split captives
By
Dave Clark
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com
03 15 06
Nigerian separatist guerrillas dashed official hopes Tuesday for
an imminent release of three US and British oil workers being
held hostage in the Niger Delta swamps, amid mounting fears for
their safety.
A man identifiying himself as US hostage Cody Oswald told AFP
by telephone that he had not seen his two colleagues for two days,
after rebel fighters seeking the autonomy of their oil-rich region
split up their captives.
In the same call, a rebel commander warned that the hostages would
not be freed until the Nigerian federal government had pulled
all of its troops out of the Niger Delta and released three prominent
ethnic Ijaw leaders.
The caller, who identified himself as a commander in the Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), also demanded
that the oil giant Shell pay 1.5 billion dollars (1.2 billion
euros) in damages to polluted communities.
"After the release of six foreign oil workers under our control
two weeks ago, the federal government of Nigeria has since not
been ready to negotiate with MEND," the caller said, referring
to six of Oswald's colleagues.
"Rather, they have been using cheap blackmail against the
people of the Niger Delta and have continued to plan military
attacks on defenceless Ijaw people (and) communities," he
alleged.
"We wish to reiterate that the federal government and multinationals
must meet the demands of the Niger Delta before the remaining
three foreign oil workers can be freed," he added.
"Any blip now could be disastrous, as we are battle ready,"
he warned.
The commander then passed the telephone to a softly spoken young
man with a southern American accent who identified himself as
Oswald.
"I want to let you know that I haven't seen the other two
guys for two days. You need to meet these people's demands real
fast.... You need to do what they want and soon and fast,"
he said.
The hostage said he was still in the location where the hostages
had previously been held, but that his US and British colleagues
had been moved.
Oswald is one of three oil workers, along with fellow American
Russell Spell and British security expert John Hudspith, who have
been held in the swamps of
southern Nigeria since armed guerrillas seized them on February
18.
The call appeared to have been timed to undermine claims by Nigerian
officials, who had earlier confidently predicted that the hostages
would be released within days following political talks in the
delta city of Warri.
Abel Oshevire, a spokesman for the Delta State government, said
Ijaw youth leaders had endorsed an earlier call by tribal elders
for the three to be handed over in exchange for talks with the
government on local development.
Asked when the release might come, Oshevire said: "No one
knows the time. It could be today, it could be tomorrow. We had
to keep two days of vigil the last time six of the nine hostages
were released."
Heavily armed militants belonging to MEND attacked energy giant
Shell's Forcados export terminal on February 18.
They fought a gun battle with navy troopers, set fire to a crude
oil loading platform and kidnapped nine foreign workers, six of
whom were later released.
Following the attack, Shell suspended loading at Forcados and
evacuated its EA offshore field, cutting oil production in Africa's
biggest crude exporter by 455,000 barrels per day, or 20 percent.
Although Nigeria has earned more than 300 billion dollars from
oil over the past four decades, the vast majority of its 130-million-strong
population still lives in abject poverty and resentment against
oil companies runs high.
AFP 03 14 06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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