A militant group in Nigeria’s oil-rich river delta region said Wednesday it has turned down offers of ransom for four foreign hostages, reiterating that the captives will only be freed in exchange for imprisoned comrades.
“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,” said an e-mail from an address used by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND.
The three Italians and a Lebanese man were seized last month from an oil export station operated by Agip, a subsidiary of Italian oil giant Eni SpA.
Attacks on oil installations in the region are common, with armed groups often taking foreigners hostage for money, political influence, or both.
MEND has said it kidnapped the foreigners to use as a bargaining chip for the release of militant leaders imprisoned by the government.
“Agip for the last few days has offered several criminals in the delta huge sums as ransom, even asking us to name our price for the release of these hostages,” the e-mail said. But the group said it would not accept such money, and added that it was prepared to kill the hostages if necessary.
An Agip spokesman said the company had no comment. He did not say if Agip had offered ransoms.
More than 70 foreigners have been seized so far this year alone. One British oil worker was killed last month during an exchange of gunfire when the Nigerian navy attempted a rescue operation after he was taken hostage.
The militant group, which says it is fighting for a more equitable share of Nigeria’s oil billions, also has claimed responsibility for two car bombs detonated in residential compounds belonging to oil companies in the oil-producing city of Port Harcourt on Monday. No one was injured and the group said the bombings were intended as a warning rather than to cause loss of life.
Despite receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenues since independence in 1960, most of Nigeria remains deeply impoverished and residents have little access to clean water, electricity or good roads.