  |
Kidnapped Dutch oil worker released in Nigeria: official
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com 07 11 06
A Dutch oil worker taken hostage last week in southern Nigeria's Bayelsa State was released on Monday, spokesmen of the state government and national police, as well as his company told AFP.
Michael Los, an employee of British-based oil services firm Westminster Dredging, who was kidnapped by youths from the Ijaw Gbarain community last Thursday and taken to an unknown location, was released Monday afternoon, Bayelsa government spokesman Ekiyor Welson and national police spokesman Haz Iwendi said.
"He has been taken back from the hands of his kidnappers", Iwendi told AFP by telephone.
"The security agencies, including the police worked in partnership with the state government to secure his release, effected through negotiations facilitated by the police," he said without giving further details.
Westminster Dredging, Los' company in The Hague, also confirmed that "Mr. Los is unhurt and in good health".
Nigerian officials rarely confirm publicly if any ransome was paid, ostensibly in order not to encourage groups or individuals.
Los "was released unconditionally from Ugheli South Local government (municipality) in Delta State and brought to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT)," Welson said.
"He was thereafter handed over to officials of his company and those of the Netherlands embassy in Nigeria. No ransom was demanded or paid. We tried to convince his kidnappers that their action was not the right way to go about their struggle," he added.
Westminster Dredging has been subcontracted by German construction firm Julius Berger which has a contract in the Niger Delta region with Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell.
Since January, the Niger Delta region has seen a wave of attacks against foreign oil companies and their employees, launched by armed separatists and local communities demanding a larger share in oil revenues and compensation for the destruction of their ecosystem by oil exploration.
So far 32 oil workers, including the Dutchman, have been kidnapped. The previous hostages were released unharmed after spending several days in captivity.
Representatives of oil communities say that thousands of jobs, social amenities and roads promised recently by President Olusegun Obasanjo failed to meet their expectations as they were not far-reaching enough.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer and world's six largest exporter, produces around 2.6 billion barrels of crude per day.
Although oil accounts for more than 95 percent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings, the Niger Delta region remains impoverished.
Residents of the oil-rich region complain that their farmlands and waters have been polluted or destroyed by the activities of foreign oil companies.
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has for more than 12 years been driven out of Ogoniland in southern Rivers State for alleged environmental degradation of the community, without paying adequate compensation.
AFP 10 1724 GMT 07 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels