BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/05/2007

Belarusian woman hostage released in Nigeria - embassy-1

MOSCOW, May 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Belarusian woman abducted in early May in Nigeria has been released, a diplomat with the Russian Embassy in Nigeria said Thursday.

Irina Ekpo-Umo, who is married to a Nigerian and is a senior manager with the local branch of the British services company Compass Group, was kidnapped May 5 while returning from work in the country's main oil city of Port Harcourt. Gunmen stopped her car and took the woman away, demanding a ransom of $1.2.

"The Russian Embassy worked closely with country's law enforcement bodies and the administration of the company where Irina worked, and as a result the Belarusian citizen was released" Viktor Goncharov said.

Belarus has no diplomatic mission in Nigeria, and the Russian Embassy assisted in handling the case at its request.

Militants fighting against the Nigerian government for greater autonomy in the oil-rich Niger Delta have intensified their attacks lately on oil industry facilities that are largely run by Western companies.

The latest kidnapping brought the total number of foreign workers abducted in Nigeria to 28 in a week.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070517/65622705.html