Some 24 hostages of the Philippines sit as they are guarded by militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) at an undisclosed location on the creeks of Niger delta January 31, 2007.
The Philippine government said on Tuesday it was concerned about the health of Filipino sailors kidnapped by militants in Nigeria following reports seven of the seafarers were critically ill.
On Jan. 17, armed men seized the 24 workers from a German-operated cargo ship in the southern oil producing delta, taking 17 ashore to a village and demanding the Nigerian government free two separatist leaders from prison.
The fate of the 24 Filipinos being held in Delta state hung in the balance on Wednesday as their captors foreclosed the possibility of their early release from captivity.
Some suspected memebers of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) carrying out an operation on water.
The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, which claimed responsibility for the fate of the foreigners, said it was not ready to free them for now.
The Filipinos were allegedly abducted from a ship owned by Bacoliner Shipping Company, on January 20, at Chanomi creeks, in Warri South West Local Government Area of the state.
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The Filipinos and the ship were still being held by the MEND as at press time on Wednesday.
Our correspondent recalled that the dialogue initiated by the state government on behalf of the Federal Government had collapsed, a development which further jeopardised the interest of the expatriates.
It was learnt that the militants insisted at the parley spearheaded by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Ovie Omo-Agege, that the Federal Government must meet a four-point demand, including the release of the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, and the leader of Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujarhedeen Asari Dokubo, as a precondition to release the hostages.
Also, the MEND asked the government to prevail on Shell Petroleum Development Company to offset the judgment debt of $1.5bn awarded to Bayelsa Aborigenes by the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt.
The group further demanded for the probe of the 13 per cent derivation funds released to Governors Peter Odili and James Ibori, of Rivers and Delta States, respectively.
However, an official of MEND, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday, said the ongoing clampdown on members of the group and other Ijaw freedom fighters by the State Security Service in the state sealed the hope of early release of the Filipinos.
He said, �The SSS is persecuting notable Ijaw youths involved in the struggle for the emancipation of the Niger Delta. Just last Saturday, they disrupted the wedding of the spokesman of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities, Mr. Kestin Pondi. The operatives of the service laid ambush at the church to arrest our kinsmen. This action led to the cancellation of the wedding.
�If the SSS has the wherewithal, let its operatives go to the creeks to free the hostages and the ship,� added the MEND official who craved anonymity.