MOSCOW, August 10 (RIA Novosti) - Six Russians who were held hostage in Nigeria for two months and released on August 8 have returned home, a metals company they worked for said Friday.
Four male and two female employees of the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Russian aluminum giant UC RusAl, were abducted on June 3 by gunmen who broke into their residence in the southeastern town of Ikot Abasi, killing their Nigerian driver.
"RusAl says that five company employees and one of their relatives, who were released earlier in Nigeria, have returned home," the statement said. "They are all feeling well. They will undergo a medical examination next week."
Media reports earlier said a ransom of $480,000 had been demanded by the captors, but Russian officials denied that any payments had been made. After the abductors let the hostages go free, Russia's Foreign Ministry thanked the people involved in brokering the release.
Militant activity in the oil-rich Niger Delta escalated at the beginning of last year, when insurgents demanded a share of the vast oil revenues that have bypassed the impoverished region since crude production began in the 1960s. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producing nation, and the world's eighth largest.
Since violence broke out, around 200 foreign workers have been abducted. Most have been released after payment of large cash ransoms.
Recently-elected President Umaru Yar'Adua has put security in the region at the top of the national agenda, but attacks and abductions have continued unabated.
