Still in the Delta: British hostage Matthew Maguire not released yet.
Delta hostage 'opts to stay with Mend'
Nigerian militants said that a British oil worker who has been held hostage in the Niger Delta for the past nine months, had declined to be released, claiming he was "now an advocate for change" in the region.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) had said it planned to free Matthew Maguire on his birthday, 1 June.
Later, however, in statement emailed to Upstream, it said: "Matthew Maguire has declined the gift of a release from captivity with an argument that he is now an advocate for change in the region."
Maguire has been held captive in the creeks of the Niger Delta since 9 September.
Mend released another Briton seized with him, Robin Barry Hughes, in April because he was ill.
A Mend spokesman said in the email Maguire is now “a honorary member” of Mend and that Maguire believes his freedom “should only be considered when [Mend leader] Henry Okah is freed to participate in a credible peace process or allowed to travel for his urgent kidney surgery.”
Spoeksman Jomo Gbomo added: “This has come as a surprise to us and we cannot forcibly eject him from our camp against his will."
The militant group has hinted in the past it would release Maguire, but failed to follow through, according to a Reuters report.
The two Britons were among more than 20 people taken when their oil supply vessel was hijacked.
Hundreds of foreigners have been taken in the delta since Mend launched a campaign of violence in early 2006 to push for what it considers to be a fairer share of the profits from crude oil extraction.
Most are freed unharmed after a few weeks.
The military last month launched its most aggressive offensive against militants in the delta in years, bombarding militant camps around Warri in Delta state from the air and sea and sending three battalions of soldiers to hunt down rebels believed to have fled into surrounding communities.
In response, Mend has declared an "all-out war" against the military and bombed US supermajor Chevron’s pipeline last week, forcing a loss in production of 100,000 barrels per day.
But there has been relatively little fighting between the two sides in the past week.
Army spokesman Rabe Abubakar today told the news agency security forces averted an attempted militant attack on a pipeline connected to a Shell platform in southern Nigeria's Rivers state.
"The troops who were deployed at the Shell platform were on their normal routine check of the area when the vandals were discovered," he said.