"And in due time, he will be back home."Bogor (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday that Indonesian seaman Glenny Ferdinand Rugegbregt from Maluku, who had been kidnapped in Nigeria earlier, has been released.
"Glen, an Indonesian citizen who had been kidnapped in Nigeria, has indeed been released. The Foreign Affairs Minister told me an hour ago that he had spoken to Glen," the head of state said, while inaugurating an economic retreat at Bogor Palace, West Java.
The seaman, who was under shock, has been medically examined. "And in due time, he will be back home," the president said.
He also pointed out that many Indonesians work in Nigeria, particularly in oil companies.
Rugegbregt along with three other seamen from Malaysia, Thailand and Iran had been held hostage by armed Nigerian pirates since August 4.
The president of the Indonesian Seamen Association (KPI), Hanafi Rustandi said in a statement on August 9 that the four men were taken hostage from the `BG Jascon 33 barge around 35 miles off the Nigerian coast, while they were travelling in a boat, which was flying St. Vincent`s flag.
The boat belonged to a Dutch company and was ferrying the crew to work in an offshore oil drilling rig, when an armed group suddenly attacked and hijacked the ship.
It is believed that the hostage takers sought a ransom in exchange for the release of the crew.
(T.M041/Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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