Navy rescues five hostages in oil producing region

Naval troops from the Warri base in southeastern Nigeria have rescued five people held hostage since Wednesday by youths from Opuama, near the coastal oil town of Sapele, ‘The Guardian’ newspaper of Lagos reported. The youth seized the three Shell Petroleum Company employees and two naval personnel from a Shell oil facility, demanding that the multinational pay three billion naira (US $29.76 million) for environmental damage to the communities of Opuama and Tsekelewu for oil spills in 1998 and 1999. The youths also seized a crew boat. The commanding officer of the Nigerian Naval Ship Umalokun, Captain John Kpokpogri, told the newspaper that six people from Opuama had been arrested and were being questioned at the naval base. Opuama and Tsekelewu communities had earlier threatened “to close SPDC’s flow stations and disrupt all the company’s activities in the area without minding the consequences”, the newspaper said. It added that the communities had rejected a 55-million-naira (US $545,635) compensation offer by Shell and took their action at the end of a seven-day ultimatum to the multinational to pay up.