By IANS
New Delhi : Ten Indians kidnapped in Nigeria by gunmen have been freed, within a week of the release of two abducted Indian engineers, official sources said Saturday.
Sources in the external affairs ministry told IANS that the 10, who were among 12 Indians kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria last month, had been freed.
Details were not available, the officials said.
The Indians had been kidnapped in two lots on May 19.
On Monday, two kidnapped Indian engineers – Debashish Kakoty of Asssam and Sunil Dave of Maharashtra – had been released after 25 days in captivity. The two had been kidnapped from their residence in Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt on May 19.
The two were working for Indonesia's Indorama, a reputed oil exploration company. Indorama is the majority stake holder of the Eleme petrochemical plant near Port Harcourt.
Militant groups demanding a greater share of government oil revenues have carried out bombings, kidnappings and protests since 2005 that have already shut down a third of production of the Nigerian field – a key supplier to the US
The abduction last month was the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreign workers – 13 others are still held hostage in the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region where all of Nigeria's oil reserves are located.
Violence in the world's eighth largest oil exporter has witnessed an upswing early this year forcing the shutdown of a third of production and hundreds of foreigners fleeing the lawless region.
About 100 expatriates have been kidnapped so far this year – a majority of them were released after their employers paid huge ransoms.