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CRIME

Two Germans kidnapped in Niger Delta released unharmed

Two Germans kidnapped in Nigeria nearly a week ago have been freed, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle announced on Saturday.

Two Germans kidnapped in Niger Delta released unharmed
File picture of rebels from the MEND group in the Niger Delta. Photo: DPA

The men, aged 45 and 55, were abducted in Abia state in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta on Sunday, after going swimming in the Imo River.

They have been freed and are safe and sound, the minister said in a statement.

“They are well considering the circumstances,” he said.

A Nigerian security source said earlier this week that one of the men worked in Port Harcourt, the oil city capital of neighbouring Rivers State, while the other came from Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos.

According to police, the two foreigners had come to the river to swim in company of three young Nigerian women and a driver. The kidnappers seized the Germans after they got out of the water, while the women and the driver escaped.

Nigerian officials could not immediately confirm they had been released but Westerwelle said the men were in a secure location in Port Harcourt.

He thanked German and Nigerian authorities for their “tireless intervention” which he said had resulted in a swift end to the ordeal of the abducted men.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and there has been no mention of whether the abductors received a ransom.

Hundreds of foreigners and locals, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped since 2006 in Nigeria, most of them in the Niger Delta, where international oil companies operate, but where local people see little if any of the benefit.

A group calling itself the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has declared war on the oil industry in the region, and is thought to be behind some of the kidnappings.

Many of the people seized have been released unharmed, but in some cases only after payment of a ransom.

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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