Nigerian Militants Free 6 Captives

Militants released six foreign oil workers Wednesday, including a diabetic Texan celebrating his 69th birthday.

But three other hostages -- two Americans and a Briton -- were kept by militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

The nine were taken captive Feb. 18 to press fighters’ demands for a greater share of oil revenue generated in the restive southern region.

A militant spokesman said Wednesday that all “low-value” hostages had been freed.

Those released included Macon Hawkins of Kosciusko, Texas; two Egyptians; two Thais and a Filipino. They were taken to the offices of James Ibori, governor of the delta state.

Militants handed Hawkins to surprised journalists visiting the fighters in the creeks and waterways of the oil-rich Niger Delta. The reporters took the calm but bedraggled worker to the Nigerian military.

Hawkins said he celebrated his 69th birthday in captivity with a warm soda and was looking forward to cleaning up.

“I had a warm Sprite this morning, but I’m looking forward to a hot shower with some shampoo, some underarm deodorant and a razor,” he said, adding that he bore his captors no ill will.

“I have no animosity toward them at all,” he said. “I’ve seen their little villages. They’re dirt poor -- poor as field mice.”

The workers were abducted from a barge owned by their employer, Houston-based oil services company Willbros Group Inc., which was laying pipeline for oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.

The militants are demanding that Nigeria’s government release two of their regional leaders from prison and are seeking a greater share of proceeds from the oil pumped from their impoverished lands in southern Nigeria.