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Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria: Militants release two South Africans kidnapped in Niger Delta
2008-09-24
(SomaliNet) Nigeria's militant group responsible for the abduction of two South Africans released the two men early on Friday, ten days after 36-year-old Dan Laarman and fellow South African, Robert Berrie, were kidnapped in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. "The duo was handed over to government secret service officials at 11pm on Thursday night, who will in turn hand them over to representatives of the South African high commission," Jomo Gbomo, a spokesperson for the group, known as the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), said.
Doesn't it seem as if kidnapping for profit has become a pan-African affair ...
On September 9, a rival militant group seized the two South Africans - along with two British citizens, a Ukrainian and 22 Nigerians - as they travelled to an oil rig on the vessel HD Blue Ocean, at the entrance of the Sambreiro River in the delta, a vast network of mangrove creeks which is home to Africa's biggest oil industry.

Laarman was in Nigeria on a month-long contract with Hydrodive Nigeria to work on Chevron oil rigs.

Mend said it had "rescued" the 27 hostages from the group that had kidnapped them, but would hold on to the remaining 25 hostages until one of its leaders, Henry Okah, was released from prison. The group released the two South Africans because Okah's wife, who lives in South Africa, said the South African government was treating her and her children well.

South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the South African high commissioner to Nigeria, Stix Sifingo, had confirmed the release of the two South Africans. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed appreciation on behalf of the government to the Nigerian authorities for helping to bring about a resolution to the matter.

Militant groups attack oil installations and kidnap expatriate workers, saying they are fighting for a greater share of profits from oil exploitation for the poor.

Laarman's parents, Will and Ingrid, said from their Cosmos home on the Hartbeespoort Dam near Pretoria, that they were overjoyed when they received the news on Friday. "When I heard Dan's voice over the phone on Friday afternoon, it felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It was a very emotional experience for me," Ingrid said.
Posted by:Fred

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