Five Koreans believed to be staff of Daewoo Company, South Korea, were kidnapped at 0010 on Wednesday ( 2310 GMT on Tuesday) in Cawthorne Channel, Nigeria's southern state of Rivers.

Jomo Gbomo, a self-described spokesman for the Movement of Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said the fighters of the MEND "attacked the premises of the Daewoo Company, contractors to Shell ... in response to the court of appeal judgment of Tuesday June 6, 2006, on the continued detention of Asari."

According to him, the five Koreans held hostages are staff of Daewoo who gave their names as: H.J. Kwon, A. Park, S.B. Kim, O.K. Kim, and H.D. Kim.

"They are in good health and have been returned to one of our bases," he said.

Gbomo explained that the action contradicted their earlier resolve not to take hostages, but "the court ruling of June 6, stripping Asari (Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo) of his rights as a human being and citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria effectively puts Nigeria under martial law."

The Court of Appeal in the capital Abuja on Tuesday shattered the hope of Alhaji Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo, leader of a rebel group the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, for freedom as it dismissed his prayer for bail.

The court held that his admission to bail would pose a threat to national security in view of documentary evidence before it.

Source: Xinhua