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| UK oil worker freed, family says | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A British oil worker taken hostage in the southern Nigerian swamps has been freed and is safe and well, according to his family. | |
| The Foreign Office has been examining reports that militants released Matthew Maguire to the Nigerian government. | |
| Mr Maguire, of Merseyside, was one of 27 hostages taken from a boat off the coast of Port Harcourt last September. | Mr Maguire, of Merseyside, was one of 27 hostages taken from a boat off the coast of Port Harcourt last September. |
| The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has since released the other hostages. | |
| In an email from the group, it had been claimed that Mr Maguire was released at a secret location and was now in Port Harcourt. | |
| The Foreign Office had been unable to confirm the reports but his father Bernard Maguire, who lives in Perth, Australia, told the BBC his son had been freed. | |
| "Matthew's girlfriend, Emma, received a phone call from him earlier today," he said on Friday evening. | |
| "He's out now and no harm has come to him, so it's a relief. Although he's lost weight, he's got no other health problems. | |
| 'Fantastic' | |
| "We have been waiting a long, long time for this and we have been given so much false hope in the past." | |
| His son was expected back in the UK on Sunday or Monday, he added. | |
| British hostage Robin Hughes, taken from the same boat as Mr Maguire, was released in April because he had fallen sick. The other hostages were released within days. | British hostage Robin Hughes, taken from the same boat as Mr Maguire, was released in April because he had fallen sick. The other hostages were released within days. |
| Hundreds of foreign oil and construction workers - and many more Nigerians - have been kidnapped by militants since 2006. | Hundreds of foreign oil and construction workers - and many more Nigerians - have been kidnapped by militants since 2006. |
| Militants, who say they are fighting for a better share-out of Nigeria's oil revenue, fund their groups with kidnapping, extortion and oil theft. | |