Nigeria: Main militant group in oil-rich delta releases list of hostages from rig attack
Source: CP
By Jon Gambrell (CP) – 38 minutes ago
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Nigeria's main militant group in the oil-rich southern delta on Friday released a list of hostages it had taken from an attack on an offshore oil rig, with at least one name matching that of a U.S. worker believed to be held.
In an email, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta identified the seven men taken from a rig operated by London-based Afren PLC — which includes two U.S. workers, one Canadian, two French and two Indonesians. The email sent to journalists described the men as being "in good health and (they) will be in our custody for a while."
"Our fighters (caused) extensive damage on this facility and attempted to set it ablaze as they were instructed to do," the email read.
The list of seven names included that of James Robertson, a U.S. worker on the rig for contractor Transocean Ltd. Local television stations in Mississippi earlier this week reported that Robertson, of Silver Creek, Mississippi, had been abducted during the attack Monday on the rig 7 miles (11 kilometres) off Nigeria's coast.
An Afren official reached Friday morning declined to comment. A Transocean spokesman based in the U.S. could not be immediately reached for comment.
The email said the two Indonesians were seized off a nearby support ship operated by contractor Century Energy Services Ltd. The Canadian seized worked for a firm called PPI while one of the abducted Frenchmen worked for Sodexo, a France-based catering company. The other U.S. citizen and Frenchman were identified as working for Transocean.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, also known by the acronym MEND, began a campaign of pipeline bombings and high-profile kidnappings in 2006. Militants in the delta, a region of winding creeks and mangroves about the size of South Carolina, want more oil money to come to an area still gripped by abject poverty and pollution after more than 50 years of oil production.
Several MEND commanders took part of a government-sponsored amnesty deal last year to lay down their weapons, but a faction remained active. Most recently, MEND claimed responsibility for an Oct. 1 car bomb attack that struck Nigeria's capital, Abuja, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more.
The hostage list came from a new email address previously not associated with the militant group. The group apparently has been changing email addresses after Henry Okah, an alleged gunrunner long thought to be a MEND leader, was arrested in South Africa on terrorism charges stemming from the Oct. 1 attack.
In the email Friday, MEND also said it released three French workers and a Thai expatriate kidnapped Sept. 22 during an attack on an offshore rig operated by Addax Petroleum. The workers were released from captivity on Wednesday.
"Owing to their generally poor state of health, we were compelled to release them on humanitarian grounds," the statement read.
By Jon Gambrell (CP) – 38 minutes ago
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Nigeria's main militant group in the oil-rich southern delta on Friday released a list of hostages it had taken from an attack on an offshore oil rig, with at least one name matching that of a U.S. worker believed to be held.
In an email, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta identified the seven men taken from a rig operated by London-based Afren PLC — which includes two U.S. workers, one Canadian, two French and two Indonesians. The email sent to journalists described the men as being "in good health and (they) will be in our custody for a while."
"Our fighters (caused) extensive damage on this facility and attempted to set it ablaze as they were instructed to do," the email read.
The list of seven names included that of James Robertson, a U.S. worker on the rig for contractor Transocean Ltd. Local television stations in Mississippi earlier this week reported that Robertson, of Silver Creek, Mississippi, had been abducted during the attack Monday on the rig 7 miles (11 kilometres) off Nigeria's coast.
An Afren official reached Friday morning declined to comment. A Transocean spokesman based in the U.S. could not be immediately reached for comment.
The email said the two Indonesians were seized off a nearby support ship operated by contractor Century Energy Services Ltd. The Canadian seized worked for a firm called PPI while one of the abducted Frenchmen worked for Sodexo, a France-based catering company. The other U.S. citizen and Frenchman were identified as working for Transocean.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, also known by the acronym MEND, began a campaign of pipeline bombings and high-profile kidnappings in 2006. Militants in the delta, a region of winding creeks and mangroves about the size of South Carolina, want more oil money to come to an area still gripped by abject poverty and pollution after more than 50 years of oil production.
Several MEND commanders took part of a government-sponsored amnesty deal last year to lay down their weapons, but a faction remained active. Most recently, MEND claimed responsibility for an Oct. 1 car bomb attack that struck Nigeria's capital, Abuja, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more.
The hostage list came from a new email address previously not associated with the militant group. The group apparently has been changing email addresses after Henry Okah, an alleged gunrunner long thought to be a MEND leader, was arrested in South Africa on terrorism charges stemming from the Oct. 1 attack.
In the email Friday, MEND also said it released three French workers and a Thai expatriate kidnapped Sept. 22 during an attack on an offshore rig operated by Addax Petroleum. The workers were released from captivity on Wednesday.
"Owing to their generally poor state of health, we were compelled to release them on humanitarian grounds," the statement read.
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