Hostages: Nigeria 'paid ransom'

[Richard Akindele]

Lagos - Six foreigners kidnapped in a nightclub raid in Nigeria's southern oil region were released after the government paid a ransom, said an official on Thursday.

The West African nation's oil-rich delta had seen a spate of hostage-takings in recent weeks. The captured foreigners were usually released unharmed, but without much detail about who took them or how their release was secured.

Emmanuel Okah, a spokesperson for the governor of Rivers state, said the local government paid a ransom to free the six men released on Wednesday.

According to the government, the group included an American boat captain, along with two hostages from Britain and one each from Poland, Ireland and Germany.

Six oil workers kidnapped

Okah said: "Naturally, the government spent money to ensure they were procured, but I can't say exactly how much went to who. More often than not kidnappers demand a ransom.

"Our policy is to ensure that anyone who suffers that calamity in our state is made as safe as they can be."

Rivers state government spokesperson Magnus Abe said he didn't have information on who was responsible for the kidnapping.

An unidentified group of armed men snatched the six 10 days ago from a nightclub in the centre of Nigeria's oil hub of Port Harcourt.

The kidnappers arrived shooting into the air and sent scores of people rushing for cover. Officials said no one was injured.

Among those released was Royce Parfait, a commercial ship captain from Charleston, Tenn.

160 people arrested

Parfait said: "I appreciate everything everybody's done for us. We're having champagne." The men worked for a range of companies involved in Nigeria's oil industry.

The rash of kidnappings in Port Harcourt - at least 17 in the past two weeks - prompted President Olusegun Obasanjo to declare a clampdown last week. The government arrested 160 people in the two-day crackdown, though most of those had since been released.

Abe said that 10 other hostages were freed in recent days in addition to the six on Wednesday. A Lebanese man was still being held.

Hostage-takings in Nigeria - Africa's largest crude producer and a major United States supplier - had increased along with tensions between international oil firms and poor local communities.

Militants argued that residents remained deeply impoverished and benefited little from the country's vast oil wealth while government officials and oil companies grew rich.

The kidnappings, along with sabotage attacks, had cut Nigerian production by more than 20% since the beginning of the year.