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Nigerian kidnappers show concern for hostages
By Ade Obisesan
AFP
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com 01 29 06Nigerian militants holding two Italians and one Lebanese national hostage said Saturday they were concerned for the comfort of their victims.
"We are not totally insensitive to their misfortune. Our sense of pity is slightly numbed by our rage at the injustice brought upon our people by the Nigerian government and (foreign) oil companies," a spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said.
He was responding to questions on the treatment given to the hostages in MEND's custody.
"We try to make them as comfortable as we can. We buy clothes and canned food mostly which they feed on. We give them medication to prevent malaria and provide only bottled water for their drinking," the spokesman said in an email to AFP.
"If they get ill, we will try our best to provide what medical attention we can. We have a machinery in place to attend to all such eventualities," he said.
The three hostages, Italians Cosma Russo and Francesco Arena, and Lebanese national Imad Saliba, all workers for Italian oil firm Agip, were seized by MEND on December 7 from one of the company's facilities at Brass in southern Bayelsa State.
Their abduction is the latest in a spate of kidnappings designed to highlight alleged imbalances in the distribution of oil wealth in the oil-rich region.
The MEND gave assurances Tuesday that it would not execute the three hostages even if talks over their release broke down.
"If the Nigerian government refuses to accede to our demands, we can only keep holding on to the hostages. We will not take any drastic action such as executing them," the MEND spokesman said.
He was responding to a question on what would happen if the government continues to refuse to accede to two of his group's key demands, the freeing of separatist leader Muhajid Asari-Dokubo and ex-Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
Asari-Dokubo is being held on treasonable felony charges and Alamieyeseigha, who jumped bail in London, is facing corruption charges in an Abuja court.
The MEND spokesman said negotiations with the government were "ongoing" but declined to say more.
The group last week said it had released one Italian, Roberto Dieghi, 64, as an "act of goodwill".
Militants are holding almost 40 foreigners hostage in several parts of Niger Delta, including an American, a Briton, nine Chinese and 24 Filipinos.
Some 37 Nigerian troops and dozens of Nigerian oil workers have been killed by the militants since the start of 2006, while close to 100 foreigners, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped.
Most of the hostages have been released unharmed after days or weeks in captivity.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from the fossil fuel.
It lost more than half a million barrels a day last year due to disruptions in production caused by unrest in the Delta region.
AFP 27 1644 GMT 01 07
Copyright© 1999 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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