Five South Koreans taken hostage by Nigerian militants were freed on Thursday, said the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), which had been holding them.
“In fulfilment of our earlier pledge, all five Korean prisoners captured by our unit in the attack on the Daewoo camp were released at 4pm [local time] today, Thursday June 8 2006,” Mend said in a statement e-mailed to Agence France-Presse.
It said the five, taken captive from a gas installation in the Niger Delta early on Wednesday, had been handed over to Nigerian senator David Brigidi.
They had been released at the request of Mujahid Asari Dokubo, a separatist leader arrested in September last year on treason charges, whose freedom the Mend was demanding, the statement added.
There was no immediate confirmation from official Nigerian or industry sources that the men had been freed. — AFP