Click to play videoNew Delhi: Nigerian insurgents freed 12 foreign hostages including two Indians and also one Nigerian in the oil-producing Niger Delta on Monday as a prelude to peace talks with the incoming government of President Umaru Yar'Adua.
The hostages were released on humanitarian grounds, The release of the 13 men, including five Britons and three Americans, in Bayelsa state was the latest sign of easing tensions in Africa's top oil producer after Yar'Adua promised to address grievances in the impoverished region.
The other freed hostages were two Indians, one Filipino and one South African, who said their captors had subjected them to mock executions.
A faction of the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) had earlier sent an email to the media announcing the release of 11 hostages.
The men were picked up in a helicopter by Governor Timipre Sylva, who then hosted them at a dinner.
His spokesman initially said there were five Americans and three Britons but later corrected himself. No hostages were left in Bayelsa, he said.
"The first three days were hell. There were a lot of mock executions," said South African Duplooy Smit, who was seized from an offshore oil industry vessel on May 25.
"They were all high on local gin and marijuana, and carrying machineguns so you never knew what would happen next,” Smit added.
(With agency inputs)
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