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Shell employees freed

Three Shell employees taken hostage on 1 July were freed on Sunday, a spokesperson for Royal Dutch/Shell told IRIN on Tuesday. The three, a Nigerian, a Briton and a US national were released "unharmed" although they were all undergoing medical checks, the official said. However, two pilots of Bristol Helicopters working on contract for Shell and abducted two weeks ago had still not yet been released, the Shell spokesperson said. Foreign oil firms operating in the Niger Delta have been targeted by protesting local youths wanting a greater share of the region's oil wealth and more say in local government. Their protests often involve sabotaging oil operations and kidnapping oil workers. [See Item titled 'NIGERIA: IRIN Background report on kidnappings']

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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