A British man held for nine months in Nigeria’s oil-rich south was finally released tonight, months after his abductors claimed they had rescued him from another armed group.

Matthew Maguire, an oil sector worker,“was handed over to the Nigerian government officials at a secret rendezvous and is currently in the city of Port Harcourt in Rivers state,” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in an email to the media.

“He’s definitely out now,” his father, Bernard, told the BBC. “He’s out and no harm’s done to him, it’s just a relief to everyone... where he’s been has been quite rough and tough."

He added that Matthew’s girlfriend had spoken to him and he was now expected to undergo a medical with his company. The Foreign Office said it was still checking reports of his release.

Last week, Britain called for Mr Maguire’s release after MEND twice failed to honour an earlier undertaking to set him free.

Both on June 1 and then again on June 9, MEND said it was on the point of releasing him. On the first occasion, the group said Mr Maguire had declined their offer of freedom on his birthday on the grounds he had been won over to their cause and that he wanted Henry Okah, a MEND leader in government detention to be released beforehand.

Mr Okah, arrested and detained since last September, is facing treason charges. On the second occasion, the group cited logistical difficulties, saying the special police-Army force deployed in the Niger Delta had planned to sabotage his liberation.

A photograph of Mr Maguire released by MEND a few months back showed him looking very downcast in captivity. In its statement tonight, MEND said it wished Maguire“all the best as he reunites with his family."

Mr Maguire and compatriot, Robin Barry Hughes, were kidnapped in September 2008. Mr Hughes was released on April 19 on health grounds. MEND insists it did not abduct the two men, but rescued them from another, unidentified group.

The past three-and-a-half years have seen an upsurge in kidnappings of local and foreign oil workers in the Niger Delta as well as attacks on oil industry facilities and vessels.

Some of the kidnappers, like MEND, have a political agenda and claim to be fighting for a larger share of oil revenues for local people. Others are criminal gangs just out to make ransom money. Most of those held hostage have been released after a few days or a few weeks, normally after the payment of a ransom. A few individuals like Mr Maguire have been held for longer.

Unrest in the region has reduced Nigeria’s daily output to 1.80 million barrels in May from 2.6 million barrels in the beginning of 2006, according to the latest figures from the International Energy Agency.

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