Sunday, October 5, 2008

Hostages Freed in Nigeria

As always I am stunned by news out of Nigeria.
Hostages were released -- "militants" went and freed them from "pirates."
This can only be bad news -- waring factions and images to uphold. It is good news, of course when hostages are free -- but what do we know more about the situation there...

This morning three raccoons were fighting in a tree just outside my window. Screaming like pain and hatred -- I couldn't see exactly, but it looked like one was guarding food.

I thought about the state of affairs when beings have to protect what they have.
I thought about the state of affairs when beings do not have enough to eat.


Militants say Nigerians freed, foreigners still held
Reuters Africa
Sun 5 Oct 2008, 10:23 GMT

By Nick Tattersall

LAGOS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The main militant group in the oil-producing Niger Delta said on Sunday it had released around 19 Nigerian oil workers kidnapped last month but was still holding two Britons and a Ukrainian.

"The Nigerian hostages rescued from pirates by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) have been released in Rivers state," MEND said in an e-mailed statement.

"Due to the location where the expatriates were kept for their safety, they cannot be released at this time because of security concerns," the group said.

Two Britons, two South Africans and a Ukrainian were kidnapped from an oil supply vessel, the H.D. Blue Ocean, after it was hijacked on Sept. 9 at the entrance of the Sambreiro River in the delta, a vast network of mangrove swamps.

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