A Briton held hostage in Nigeria for six months has written a letter to his family on Merseyside.
Matthew Maguire, 34, from Birkenhead, was among 27 oil workers taken by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) in September 2008.
Mr Maguire was on a boat going to the rig when the group were held.
In the letter, sent to Mr Maguire’s family with a recent picture, he said: “Sorry I missed Christmas, I hope to be home very soon”.
Mend say they are campaigning for a fairer distribution of oil revenue.
‘Stressed and tired’
In Mr Maguire’s short letter he said: “Don’t worry, I’ve been here six months now. I’m used to being here.
“It was worse at first, but am fine now. As I say, I hope to see you all soon. Love you all.”
The letter is dated 9 March 2009 and includes a picture of Mr Maguire and fellow hostage Robin Barry Hughes.
Mr Maguire’s father Bernard said: “I think he’ll cope as well as anyone can do under those circumstances, he’s got that sort of personality.
“He looks a little bit stressed and tired.”
The Mend group have previously sent e-mails to journalists saying that the hostages were “alive and well”.
They said they would continue to kidnap “high value oil workers from Western Europe and North America” in 2009 to keep pressure on the government to empower the inhabitants of Nigeria’s oil-rich states.
The Foreign Office has called for the hostages “immediate and unconditional release”.