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Nigerian militants free 24 Pinoy seamen after 3 weeks


The 24 Filipino seamen held hostage by Nigerian gunmen over the last three weeks have been released, the Cable News Network (CNN) said in an online report posted Tuesday evening. CNN learned of the development through the victims' employer, Baco Liner, but noted that the Nigerian government did not immediately confirm the report. "According the [Baco Liner] spokesman, all the men are in good health and were headed for Warri, Nigeria, their original destination before being abducted from a Baco-Liner cargo ship on January 20," the CNN report read. Sheddy Ozoene, a spokesman for Delta State government, provided the Associated Press with similar information, saying the Filipinos were onboard the German vessel Baco Liner II and were now on their way to Warri. In Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also said it has yet to receive official confirmation on the matter. "The situation is like this, DFA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos must report through the proper channels," Foreign Affairs spokesman Claro Cristobal told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. Conejos flew to Nigeria over the weekend to personally check on the "situation on the ground." The report came shortly after the DFA imposed a news black out out on the hostage crisis, upon the request of the Nigerian government directly negotiating with the kidnappers. Aside from the 24 seamen, at least two other Filipinos were abducted recently in Nigeria. Last February 6, a Filipino engineer was captured also at the Niger Delta. A day later, Josiebeth Foroozan was abducted at Stadium Road at Port Harcort, which is a considerable distance from Warri. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered a deployment ban to Nigeria in the wake of the kidnapping incidents. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and is the sixth biggest in the world. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been linked to the kidnapping of the 24 Filipino seamen, but the group's spokesman Jomo Gbomo has repeatedly denied that he and his colleagues were behind it. Frank Nweke, Nigerian minister of information and communications, also said a band of "thugs, pirates and bunkerers" were likely behind the kidnapping. CNN flatly denied Nweke's allegations that it paid for the "staged" dancing of masked gunmen – whom network correspondent Jeff Koinange believed were MEND members – in a swampland at the Niger Delta. Also in its online report Tuesday, CNN said that, "In denying the information minister's allegations, the network said that the only money that changed hands was the standard rental for a motorboat and captain – about $700 – and the standard fee to an area freelance journalist for his help in reporting and translation, about $150 per day for three days." "CNN said it will send a letter to Nweke asking him to provide any evidence to support his claims. If any credible evidence is forthcoming, CNN said it would report on that," the report read. Nweke was quoted as saying that he and other government representatives recently traveled to the Niger Delta, and that he was dismayed at how CNN depicted the lawlessness in the area. - with a report from AP, GMANews.TV

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