Nine South Koreans and one Nigerian, who were taken hostage earlier this week in southern Nigeria, have been released. The men were freed, unharmed, on Friday afternoon, a government spokesman said. Welson Ekiyor, a spokesman from the southern state of Bayelsa, said: "They released all ten of the hostages. All are in good health. No ransom was paid." On Wednesday, armed men broke into an oil services base in Bayelsa state, using dynamite to blow up part of an office building. The site was operated by Daewoo Engineering and Construction company. Daewoo later confirmed that nine of its employees, all South Koreans, had been captured.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which is fighting for local control of oil assets and reparations for neglect and pollution in the delta and which has conducted kidnapping operations in the past, said it was not involved in the attack.