The two were part of a group of 27 oil workers who included five foreign nationals and 22 Nigerians, taken hostage by gunmen who hijacked their vessel in the volatile Niger Delta. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
LAGOS - THE main armed militant group in Nigeria's oil hub on Sunday released pictures of two British oil workers it has been holding since September last year, saying they are alive and well.
In an emailed statement, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) released pictures of two men it said were Britons named Robin Barry Hughes and Matthew John Maguire.
'To reassure the families of the two British hostages... that they are alive and well, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta hereby releases their recent pictures,' said Mend in a statement to the media.
'They were taken hostage on September 9, 2008 from an oil services company,' Mend clarified in an emailed response to AFP.
'We can confirm the names as reported,' a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP. 'We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages and we remain in close contact with the families. Our thoughts are with them at this deeply distressing time.'
The two were part of a group of 27 oil workers who included five foreign nationals and 22 Nigerians, taken hostage by gunmen who hijacked their vessel in the volatile Niger Delta.
Mend said it had rescued the hostages from the gunmen and released all but the two British nationals.
The group also warned it would not relent on kidnapping foreign oil workers in its push for locals to have a better share of oil resources.
'Our policy on kidnapping high value oil workers from Western Europe and North America remains unchanged and will continue to form an integral part of our pressure strategy in the emancipation struggle in 2009,' it said.
It said the two Britons would be held until Mend's leader Henry Okah, who is facing treason and gun-running charges, is freed by Nigeria. Okah was arrested in 2007.
'We intend to hold on to them for as long as a very sick and dying Henry Okah is held hostage by the Nigerian state since their fate is now tied to his,' said MEND.
Kidnappings are commonplace in southern Nigeria's oil region, with hundreds of people - many but not all connected to the oil industry - seized in the past three years alone.
Most are released unharmed after a few days or weeks, often after a ransom is paid.
Unrest in the Niger Delta has cost Nigeria its position as the leading crude exporter in Africa after its oil output was reduced by around one quarter since 2006. -- AFP
