Kidnapped French workers located by Nigerian rebels

Nigeria’s most prominent militant group has claimed to have located three French oil workers kidnapped from their ship after an attack that led to a two-hour gun battle with authorities.

The Nigerian military yesterday searched for the four victims – a Thai national was also kidnapped – after an attack that saw abductors approach an oil platform in speedboats, then switch to another vessel to cover their tracks.

France said it did not know the whereabouts of its nationals.

“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) can confirm that it has located the three abducted French nationals and another individual abducted in a separate incident on the same night,” the militant group said in a statement late on Wednesday.

But a French foreign affairs ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said: “We are not able to confirm the whereabouts of our compatriots.”

MEND, which has staged similar attacks in the past and has also been seen as an umbrella group for local armed gangs in the oil-producing Niger Delta, said it was negotiating with the abductors to have the victims transferred to them.

“When this is done, we will be in a better position to give further information about their state of health and the duration of their stay with us.”

Wednesday’s kidnapping, the second hostage drama for French energy workers in West Africa in less than a week, occurred despite an amnesty deal in the Niger Delta that has seen thousands of ex-fighters give up their weapons.

French and Nigerian officials said they suspected the kidnapping was purely criminal –unlike last week’s abduction of French nationals in the neighbouring nation of Niger, claimed by Al-Qaeda’s north Africa branch.

“Everything points to it being a classic act of piracy,” French Defence Minister Herve Morin said.

No ransom demands have been made yet, said Mr Nadal.