| THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday ruled out, in the strongest terms yet, releasing four foreign oil workers held hostage since December 7 in exchange for a ransom. The group seized the four men when it raided an installation belonging to oil company Agip, a subsidiary of Italy�s Eni, on the Brass field in the southern state of Bayelsa in the restive Niger Delta. It has said repeatedly that it will only release the men, identified as Italians Arena Franco, Dieghi Roberto and and Russo Cosma Damiano and Lebanese national Saliba Amad, once all its political demands are met. MEND on Wednesday, in an e-mail statement to journalists, accused Agip of offering money to middlemen claiming to be able to negociate the release of the hostages. �As earlier stated, the release of these four individuals is tied to the release of four hostages of Niger delta origin in Nigerian government hands�, the message continued. MEND is known to be demanding the release from prison of former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, jailed on corruption charges, and separatist leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. The identity of the two remaining �hostages of Niger Delta origin� is not immediately clear. MEND also wants a larger share in oil revenue for local people in the delta and compensation for communities affected by oil spills. On Monday MEND detonated two car bombs in Port Harcourt, the capital of the oil-rich Rivers State and said it would step up both the intensity and the �ruthlessness� of its campaign against oil companies. One bomb struck the residential zone of Anglo-Dutch giant Shell and the second hit property belonging to Agip. There were no casualties and the damage caused was minimal. He said that no government official, oil company or oil service company should pay any form of ransom to hostage-takers or criminal gangs, warning that violators of this order would be treated as accomplices. |
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