3 Pinoy seafarers freed by Nigerian abductors

MANILA, Philippines - The three Filipinos, and a Ukrainian, who had been earlier abducted in Nigerian waters have been released by their captors last Saturday (March 14).

Vice President Noli de Castro, concurrent presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers, said the Filipinos are safe and are staying in the Nigerian town of Kalabar.

A confirmation from the Department of Foreign Affairs was not immediately available as of posting time.

In a Monday statement, De Castro reported that the abducted Filipino seafarers, along with the Ukrainian, were on board the oil-services ship M/V Seal Tide, when it was taken over by a military group early Saturday.

The Movement for Liberation of the Niger River Delta reportedly attacked the vessel in Nigerian waters bordering Cameroon.

The report on the Filipino seafarers' condition was relayed by Philippine Consul General in Nigeria Alex LaMadrid, who got wind of the news from Ukraine 's Embassy in Nigeria

More than 200 foreigners have been seized in three years of rising violence across the southern oil region of Africa's biggest petroleum producer, an Associated Press report said.

The hostages are normally released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

Nigeria is Africa 's leading oil exporter, producing an average of 2.5 million barrels a day. The Niger Delta, the main center of oil production in Nigeria , is a 74,000-square kilometer swath of swamps, where more than 3,500 oil and gas installations are located.

Travel ban to Nigeria is strictly enforced by the Philippine government, but a number of Filipinos defy the rule in search of better jobs. - with Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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