Dutch oil worker released in Nigeria

LAGOS, Nigeria – A Dutch oil worker who was kidnapped last week by armed men in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta was released Monday, officials said.

Michael Loss, an employee of Westminster Dredging, a contractor to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, was given to his employers in Yenagoa, said Ekiyor Welson, a spokesman for Bayelsa state.

Loss was seized Thursday by armed men in a speedboat while working on a Royal Dutch Shell gas plant in the Niger Delta’s Gbaran field.

Welson, who described the kidnappers as “criminals who want money,” said no ransom was paid.

Kidnappings in the restive and impoverished Niger Delta have been common in recent months with militants using the hostages to bargain for a greater share of the wealth from Africa’s largest crude producer.

AP