(Reuters) – A Lebanese man who was abducted on Feb. 28 in Nigeria’s southern oil-producing Niger Delta was freed three days later, police said on Thursday without giving any details on the terms of his release.
A friend of the family said the man had paid his kidnappers a ransom of 15 million naira ($117,000). He was freed on Saturday and has now travelled to Lebanon, the friend said.
“They just wanted money. They treated him very well,” said the friend, who did not wish to be named.
Another eight expatriates are still missing after being abducted in the Niger Delta, where kidnappings for ransom are just one facet of escalating violence. Some armed groups have also abducted foreigners to press political demands.
Two Italian oil workers kidnapped on Dec. 7 are still in captivity, as are two Filipino nationals, one Frenchman and three Croats abducted in four separate incidents in February.
A wave of militant attacks on oil facilities a year ago forced the closure of a fifth of Nigeria’s oil production. Output has yet to recover.
Since then, raids on oil facilities, kidnappings, gunbattles between militants and security forces and violent armed robberies have multiplied. Thousands of foreign workers and their relatives have left the delta.
Lebanese hostage in Nigeria was freed – police
– A Lebanese man who was abducted on Feb. 28 in Nigeria’s southern oil-producing Niger Delta was freed three days later, police said on Thursday without giving any details on the terms of his release.
A friend of the family said the man had paid his kidnappers a ransom of 15 million naira ($117,000). He was freed on Saturday and has now travelled to Lebanon, the friend said.
“They just wanted money. They treated him very well,” said the friend, who did not wish to be named.
Another eight expatriates are still missing after being abducted in the Niger Delta, where kidnappings for ransom are just one facet of escalating violence. Some armed groups have also abducted foreigners to press political demands.
Two Italian oil workers kidnapped on Dec. 7 are still in captivity, as are two Filipino nationals, one Frenchman and three Croats abducted in four separate incidents in February.
A wave of militant attacks on oil facilities a year ago forced the closure of a fifth of Nigeria’s oil production. Output has yet to recover.
Since then, raids on oil facilities, kidnappings, gunbattles between militants and security forces and violent armed robberies have multiplied. Thousands of foreign workers and their relatives have left the delta.
Poverty and the collapse of basic public services due to corruption in government fuel militancy and crime in the delta.