An Italian oil worker taken hostage in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region last week has been freed. A Nigerian militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, said Tuesday it ordered the man’s unconditional release, in an effort to end a series of kidnappings for profit. The Saipem oil worker was abducted Thursday in the oil-rich south. It is not clear who was responsible for the kidnapping, which also resulted in the death of a Nigerian soldier. Full Story