Nigerian army says frees more hostages in oil delta

WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) – The Nigerian army said on Sunday it had freed four more foreign hostages from the western Niger Delta during an operation to flush out militants which rights groups say has displaced thousands of villagers.

The military has used helicopters and gunboats against militant camps in the creeks around the town of Warri in recent days, its strongest show of force for months.

The militants said they had retaliated by blowing up two oil and gas pipelines in the heartland of Africa’s biggest energy industry but there was no independent confirmation of this.

Reuters