24 Filipino hostages in Nigeria released

All 24 Filipino oil workers taken hostage last month aboard a vessel in southern Nigeria’s Delta State were released Tuesday, a spokesman for the Nigerian government said.

"They have been released to the secretary to the state government, Ovie Omo-Agege," Sheddy Ozoene said.

The Filipinos were seized by gunmen from a Nigerian-flagged, German-owned cargo ship Baco-Liner 2 off the coast of the West African state. It is still unclear which group was responsible.

Ozoene, who did not give details of the deal that led to the release of the Filipinos, said they were being taken back to Warri, capital of Delta State.

There were initial reports that the 24 Filipinos were released "for humanitarian reasons."

"They are ferrying down to Warri together," Ozoene added.

President Arroyo expressed relief over the reported release of the hostages.

"The President is very pleased and relieved to hear this good news," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

"She thanks the Nigerian government for their valuable assistance and likewise commends the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in our post in Nigeria for exerting their best to keep our nationals out of harm’s way," Bunye said.

The President received the news while she and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo were attending a state dinner last night at Malacañang in honor of Singaporean President Sellapan (S.R.) Rama Nathan.

Press Undersecretary Isabel de Leon said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis confirmed the release at 6:30 p.m.

She said Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Esteban Conejos is waiting in the capital city of Abuja to receive the Filipinos.

But as news of the 24 men’s release came in, the fate of two other Filipinos taken hostage last week was still unknown.

Last Wednesday, a Filipina was abducted in nearby Port Harcourt in Rivers State. The woman, identified as Josibeth Foroozan, was abducted at midday from the center of the city, the heart of Nigeria’s oil industry, by gunmen who immediately switched off her phone and took her to an unknown destination.

The Filipina’s case followed the abduction the previous day of a Filipino employee of Netco Dietsmann – the Nigerian arm of a Monaco-based oil services company – who was seized from a company car heading for the airport in Owerri, the capital of Imo State.

Following the kidnappings, President Arroyo had ordered a ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Nigeria. – AFP, Paolo Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda