Nairobi/Abuja - Nigeria's main oil militant group said Sunday it would soon release Robin Barry Hughes, a British citizen it has been holding for seven months. "Based on the milk of human kindness and compassion, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) will release Mr. Robin Barry Hughes on health and age considerations very soon," the group said in an e-mailed statement.
Hughes and fellow Briton Matthew John Maguire have been in captivity since early September.
The group had said it would hold both until Henry Okah, one of their leaders who is facing a life sentence, was released.
However, MEND in February said that one of the pair was very ill, without revealing exactly what was wrong.
MEND said that it would return Hughes to his employer Hydrodive, a diving services company working for oil firms, once it had put measures in place to "ensure his safety to the drop-off zone."
Expatriate and local oil workers are regularly kidnapped in the restive oil-producing Niger Delta, although they are generally released unharmed.
Militants have also attacked flow stations and pipelines operated by major international oil companies.
MEND says it is fighting for a fairer share of oil wealth for the residents of the Niger Delta.
The government dismisses MEND and other armed groups as criminals interested only in extorting money and stealing oil.
Militant attacks have helped cut production in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, by around a fifth.
