The hostages were released to Bayelsa State Governor Goodluck Jonathan in the state capital Yenagoa, he said, adding that they were "in good health and on their way to Abuja (Nigerian capital) where they are expected to meet with President Olusegun Obasanjo."

    Iwendi said credit for the release must go to the Nigerian federal government, the Bayelsa state government and country's security forces which brokered the peace that led to the hostages becoming free men.

    Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said Friday that he would intervene to secure the release of the oil workers kidnapped at Keremo, in Bayelsa State, "unharmed."

    According to Oluremi Oyo, senior special assistant to the president on media, Obasanjo was working with the authorities in Bayelsa to resolve the issue "just as it was done in the past."

    The workers, six British, one American and one Canadian, were aboard the drilling rig Bulford Dolphin, which operated for the Nigerian oil company Peak Petroleum, when the raid occurred.

    Nigeria has a capacity of 2.5 million barrels of crude a day, but its oil output has been disrupted many times by the attack on oil workers as well as production and transportation facilities by militants, who demand compensation for the destruction on environment of the oil-rich south by oil companies. Enditem