Eight foreign oil workers, who were kidnapped earlier on Saturday, were released late in the evening on Saturday in Nigeria, military spokesman Sagir Musa said according to Itar-Tass. Meanwhile, he doubted that any ransom was paid for the release of the oil workers.
Eight foreign oil workers were kidnapped on Friday as a result of an armed attack on a gas tanker off the Bonny River estuary.
Nigerian militants were seeking a fairer distribution of revenues from the sale of oil. As a result of the actions of Nigerian militants oil production has dropped by one fifth in Nigeria for the past two years. The rebels threatened to step up their actions, after the Nigerian government had announced plans to develop military cooperation with Britain in the fight against the militants.