Korean Hostages In Nigeria Freed By Militants
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer Port Harcourt, Nigeria (AHN)-Five South Korean gas workers taken hostage in Nigeria were freed in good health on Thursday after a plea by the jailed militant leader in whose name they were abducted 40 hours earlier. Dozens of heavily armed rebels staged a bloody raid on a natural gas plant in the Niger Delta on Wednesday, demanding the release of jailed leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari in exchange for the Koreans' freedom. According to the Reuters report, the abduction was the latest incident in a wave of violence against the energy industry in the delta, where militancy is fueled by poverty, lawlessness, corruption and struggles for control of a lucrative oil theft business. Attacks by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), in other parts of the delta in January and February have forced the closure of a quarter of Nigeria's oil output, but Wednesday's raid had little impact on the industry. MEND, whose leadership is unknown, is pressing for more local control over the region's oil resources and has said it aims to bring the OPEC nation's exports to a complete halt.
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