Nigeria frees hostages, seizes oil militant camps

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's security forces handed 19 foreign and local hostages back to their employers Thursday after freeing them from militant camps in the creeks of the Niger Delta oil region.

The hostages -- two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians, one Canadian and 12 Nigerians -- were rescued late Wednesday in a major operation, said Charles Omoregie, commander of the JTF military taskforce in the Niger Delta.

The release of the hostages is a key victory for President Goodluck Jonathan's administration at a time when militants, who have in the past caused major disruption to the OPEC member's mainstay oil industry, looked to be staging a comeback.

Jonathan is the first head of state from the Niger Delta and brokered an amnesty with armed gangs there last year.

Resurgent unrest, including car bombings claimed by the oil region's main militant group in Abuja on October 1, risked undermining his credibility ahead of elections next April.

"Anyone who thinks they can hold the government hostage should rethink," Jonathan's aide Hassan Tukur said in London.

Omoregie said the military had taken over several militant camps in the region's three main states of Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta, including those run by a newly emerging criminal kingpin, known as Obese, who had been holding the 19 hostages.

"Two camps have been taken over in Delta, two in Bayelsa and three in Rivers ... (The hostages) were all rescued from Obese's camp here in Rivers state after a sustained military operation," Omoregie told a news conference.

He said the raids started Monday and that Obese, thought to be a new field commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militant group, had contacted the security forces via former militant leaders who accepted amnesty last year to tell them he was ready to surrender.

"The raid on his camp led to his decision to hand over the hostages," Omoregie said, adding Obese was now on the run but was expected to surrender. There were no arrests or injuries.

Previous kidnappings in the Niger Delta have ended after a ransom payment, but Omoregie said no money changed hands.

The seven expatriates were taken from an offshore oil rig operated by exploration firm Afren on November 7. Eight of the Nigerians were abducted from an Exxon Mobil platform a week later, while the remaining four were employees of local construction firm Julius Berger.

One hostage, Canadian Robert Croke, described the ordeal.

"It was a shocking experience. They gave us mattresses to sleep on, virtually nothing else. We were begging for food and water because what we had was exhausted," he told reporters.

"We were not maltreated, they were not hostile to us, it was just that we lacked the basic necessities."

One of the Indonesian hostages, Robert Tampubolon who works for local firm Century Energy Services Ltd, was elated.

"I am just excited. I have no words to express my joy," he said as he was greeted by his manager at the Nigerian air force base in the oil hub of Port Harcourt.

FORMER MILITANTS PRAISED

MEND claimed responsibility for the attacks on Afren and Exxon and had warned of more strikes against the oil industry. It had also warned the security forces against any operation to free the hostages, saying it would endanger their lives.

"The operation lasted until about 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) this morning. It was a joint effort involving the air force, army, navy, police and state security service," said a military officer involved in the rescue who declined to be named.

Omoregie praised the role that former MEND field commanders including Boyloaf and Farah Dagogo, who accepted last year's amnesty, played in ensuring the release of the hostages.

He said Obese -- whom security sources have said for months has been behind a spate of recent kidnappings -- had contacted Dagogo to say he was ready to release the captives.

"What happened last night is massive ... It seems the old field commanders worked with the military on the operations. We've not seen this before," said Peter Sharwood-Smith, Nigeria country manager for security consultancy Drum Cussac.

"This is a great success for the government and military ... (The former field commanders) signed up to the amnesty and despite everything, what they want is investment and development and that isn't going to happen while fighting continues."

Previous campaigns by MEND fighters have knocked out a significant chunk of Nigeria's oil production, currently averaging around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), and cost it as much as $1 billion a month in lost revenues.

Sources in the capital Abuja said the national security council, which includes military service chiefs, the president's security adviser and the head of the police force, were meeting to discuss the latest developments in the Niger Delta.

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(Additional reporting by Joe Brock and Felix Onuah in Abuja, Emma Farge in London; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)