No negotiations taking place for hostages’ release – Militants

LAGOS, NIGERIA – Nigerian militants holding three foreign oil workers said on Sunday there had been no negotiations for the release of the abducted workers, despite government`s claims that discussions of their release was underway.

“The hostages are going nowhere. There have been no meetings so far between the government and our appointed intermediary,” militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) told PANA in an e-mail Sunday.

“The Nigerian government is not interested in a lasting solution to the Niger Delta problem, preferring instead to pay out bribes in exchange for a suspension of our campaign against the oil industry,” MEND said.

The militants added: “We have rejected several such offers of bribery channelled through a few individuals known to us, preferring rather a negotiated solution to the control of the resources of the Niger Delta by its indigene.”

Angola Press