A Briton, Mr. Martin Maddieson, and an American, Mr. Jim Brazel, held hostage by Ijaw militants at the coastal Ezetu community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, since last week Thursday, were released on Tuesday morning.
The hostages were released at 8am to the Coordinator of Bayelsa State government-owned security outfit, the Bayelsa Volunteers, Chief Joshua Benamesia, who left for Ezetu on Monday evening, alongside other state government officials.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent on Tuesday afternoon, Benamesia said no ransom was paid to the militants, but a source close to the Ijaw youths revealed that an undisclosed amount of money was made available to the militants before the release.
The volunteers� coordinator said that the youths were only given the assurance that their demands would be looked into at a peace meeting to be held in Yenagoa soon.
He said that he was not aware that the militants requested for N20m before the release.
Immediately after they were set free, the expatriates were moved in speed boats, amid tight security, to Yenagoa, the state capital.
The Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Dr. Godknows Igali, the state�s Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Victor Akenge, and other top government officials, who left for Ezetu around 11 am on Tuesday, met the Benamesia team with the ex-hostages near Ogboinbiri, in the same Southern Ijaw council.
The expatriates were then moved to the Governor�s Lodge in Government House, Yenagoa, and shielded from journalists. Around 3:30pm, the oil workers were handed over to officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited, and immediately flown out of the state in a chopper.
When our correspondent went to the office of the state�s SSG, around 3:40pm, he said, �Who invited you people here, because we don�t want to publicise it.�
It will be recalled that the Ijaw militants accosted the vessel conveying the expatriates and other oil workers at Funiwa fields of Chevron at 12:30 am, and fled with their captives.
The two oil workers were seized from the vessel belonging to Oslo, Norway-based Petroleum Geo-Services, which had been providing seismic data for the oil and gas industry.