An Italian oil worker kidnapped in Nigeria was freed on Tuesday after five days in captivity and said he was feeling fine, according to Reuters. The release of the contractor to oil services company Saipem follows the intervention of a powerful militant group which wants to put an end to a spate of kidnappings for ransom in Africa's top oil producer. "I'm very OK. I'm fine," said Mario Pavesi as he walked into the Rivers state government offices in Port Harcourt. He was abducted at gunpoint from a bar near Saipem's base on the outskirts of Port Harcourt last Thursday, the eighth separate kidnapping in the region this month. An army sergeant protecting him was killed by the attackers. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was not responsible for the kidnapping, but the group said on Monday it had ordered the Italian's unconditional and immediate release because it wanted to end kidnapping for ransom. The instruction reflects a growing view among activists in the region that their fight for more control over the delta's oil wealth is becoming overshadowed by a wave of criminality. "We understand the desire of all such groups in the delta to contribute to the struggle, but will not accept such negative contributions that put the genuine agitation of the oppressed Niger Delta peoples in a bad light," MEND said in an email. Of at least 18 people abducted this month, only a Lebanese oil worker is still in captivity. It was previously reported that the Italian was abducted along with another foreigner, but authorities said on Tuesday that he was alone. MEND has itself taken hostages and staged a series of crippling attacks against oil installations, but the group makes political demands and says that it does not accept ransoms. It wants greater regional autonomy over the oil wealth, the release of two jailed leaders from the delta, and compensation for decades of oil spills to villages. At least 10 MEND fighters were killed earlier this month trying to help release a Nigerian employee of Shell, who had been abducted on a visit in the southern state of Bayelsa. Having secured the hostage's release, the militants' boat ran into a heavily armed military convoy and a gunfight broke out in which the hostage was killed. The killings came just after President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered the security services to crack down on kidnappers and threatened to sanction companies caught paying ransoms.
