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Last update - 00:38 02/09/2008
Nigeria gunmen release Israeli hostage after 6 days
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Gunmen, Israel, Nigeria 

The Israeli executive kidnapped in Nigeria was released on Monday after six days in captivity, but it is still unclear if Ehud Avni was released after ransom was paid to his kidnappers.

Nigerian security sources say they believe negotiations for Avni's release involved a ransom demand, which was probably paid.

The sources told Haaretz that the owners of the company Avni worked for paid ransom through local intermediaries.
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The sources believe the payment was agreed to be made in two parts - one before the release and the other after.

According to their estimates, the ransom paid was much lower than the $12 million the kidnappers originally demanded and does not exceed several hundred thousand dollars.

In an email to Haaretz, Jumo Gubomo, spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said that "of course ransom was paid," but he declined to give details.

Soon after Avni was kidnapped last Tuesday, MEND denied involvement in the affair, but said it knew where he was being held and announced its willingness to help in freeing him. MEND asked that an official request for its assistance be made by Israel's ambassador to Nigeria.

Israel's ambassador to Nigeria, Moshe Ram, told Haaretz that he does not believe ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

The CEO of Gilmor Engineering Ltd., Avi Golder, who employs Avni, did not respond to a request for a comment.

The ambassador confirmed that Avni was released at about 3:30 A.M. Israel time. Ram said that Avni, who is a diabetic, is in good condition.

Immediately after his release Avni was examined by doctors and was interviewed by Nigerian police. He is expected to arrive in Israel on Tuesday.

According to his testimony to police he was held by a militia, which, according to Nigerian sources, had followed Avni, collected information on him and his company and kidnapped him.

Avni said he was kept in a hut in a forest, and that his kidnappers treated him with respect and were not violent. He said he managed to bring his medicine with him from his car and the kidnappers allowed him to take the medication.

Avni has worked in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, for the past 31 years, and the kidnapping is not expected to change things.

"In Israel there are bandits, too," his wife Tzipi said. "We still think it was a big mistake. Most of the kidnappings in Nigeria are related to oil, and he is managing a construction project."

During the past three years some 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in the oil-rich delta region.

Avni's daughter, Ella, lives in New Zealand and landed Sunday night in Israel. About an hour and a half later she received the news that her father had been released.

"When I got on the plane I told everyone that my father would be landing the same time I did, and I was not wrong by much. I know him, and he is the sort that always lands on his feet," she said.

The kidnappers returned Avni to the grounds of his home in Nigeria.

According to a source familiar with the case, "it is not clear yet whether there had been a mistake in identity and that is why he was released, or if Gilmor simply does not want to be known as a company that gives in to terrorism and prefers that no one knows about any ransom payment. In any case, even if ransom was paid, it was not $12 million."

"We are ready for him with open arms," Ella said. "Yesterday we spoke with him on the telephone and can't wait to see him. We don't know very much about what happened, but most important is that everything ended well."

Avni's wife told Army Radio on Monday: "In the past few days we were living in an unreal situation. Whether it was a mistake or not, they returned him to the same place they took him from, and we have heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in his release - the Israeli security services, the foreign ministry, and good fortune."

Related articles:
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  • Nigerian militants: We know where abducted Israeli is held
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