Nigerian youths free oil hostages

Nigeria is one of the world's largest oil producer

Nigerian youths holding oil workers on an rig off southern Nigeria have freed their last 43 remaining hostages, the oil company ChevronTexaco says.

The company says the youths left the platform on Thursday morning and none of its employees was harmed.

However, ChevronTexaco declined to say whether it had met the youths' demand that they be given jobs by the firm.

Hostage-taking is common in Nigeria's oil-producing regions and are usually resolved peacefully.

Ransom

The platform targeted in the latest attack lies about 8km (5 miles) off the town Escravos, where Nigeria's main oil terminal is located.

Eighty-eight foreign and local staff were on site when the men took over the rig on Sunday. Forty-five workers were released on Tuesday.

The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Lagos says the extreme wealth of the oil companies in the Niger delta in the midst of widespread poverty is the reason they are frequently targeted.

He says the problem is made worse by a widespread belief that the oil companies will pay for the release of their employees.

Oil companies deny they pay ransoms for kidnapped workers.