Niger risk: Nigerian gunmen still hold on to a number of foreign hostages
Niger gunmen free Polish hostage
Kidnappers have released a Polish engineer seized on 24 May in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, security sources said, but about 23 other foreigners remain in captivity.
The Polish man, who is the chief engineer for a dredging company, was seized last Thursday by six gunmen near the port of Warri, security experts working for oil companies said.
Abductions for ransom or to press political demands are frequent in the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil industry.
About 100 expatriates have been kidnapped this year and most were freed after their employers paid up.
One of the security sources said a Lebanese hostage was also released yesterday, but this could not be confirmed from other sources.
Gunmen had seized a Lebanese financial controller working for an oil services company in Warri on 22 May
Oil production from Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest exporter, is down by about 700,000 barrels per day or almost a quarter because of an 18-month wave of attacks on the industry, according to a Reuters report.