Hostage takers released a Polish worker seized in Nigeria’s restive southern oil region, officials and traditional leaders said Monday.
The Polish national, who was seized Thursday in the southern Niger Delta, was released late Sunday, said Tunde Smoth, an important leader of the Ijaw ethnic group.
Smoth said he went into the region’s creeks and swamps to negotiate the man’s release late Sunday, after which he was handed over to representatives of his company. Government officials confirmed the account.
There have been more than 100 seizures of foreign workers this year in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where all of the crude is pumped in Africa’s largest producer.
Some 200 foreign workers have been taken since militants stepped up their attacks against the oil companies and government in late 2005, cutting nearly one-third of Nigeria’s daily crude production capacity and sending oil prices toward historic highs in oversees markets.
The militants say they’re fighting for the liberation of two of their leaders imprisoned on corruption and treason charges and for more oil revenues for their impoverished lands.
But in recent months, criminal gangs have taken up the practice of kidnapping foreigners for ransom. Hostages are generally released unharmed after a payment is made to the captors, although two died in the crossfire when security forces intervened. Some two dozen foreigners are known to be currently in captivity.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and a top supplier of crude to America.