LAGOS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- 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.

    The MEND spokesman explained that "we are of the opinion that the government may be interested more in a prisoner exchange rather than releasing the persons who release we have demanded."

    He added that they also advised the Daewoo Company to close down its operations with immediate effect as "a second attack will bring only death."

    He said similarly oil service companies in the Niger Delta which have been clamoring for contracts on the repair of pipelines we previously destroyed should rethink this foolishness.

    "Workers for such daring companies will be executed if caught at those sites," he said.

    Attacks would increase with frequency with the destruction of several facilities of crucial importance to the oil industry in the next few weeks, he warned, but promised that they would not kill those captured.

    He warned oil companies in the Niger Delta again to leave the Niger Delta.

    During the attack, the MEND spokesman said, they exchanged fire with a military houseboat used by Nigerian soldiers and mobile policemen drafted for the security of the Daewoo Company.

    Some occupants of this houseboat were killed in the fierce firefight, some others jumped overboard and the rest fled into the surrounding bushes. The houseboat was burnt.

    In the ensuing fight, one of the army boats was destroyed and sunk with all six soldiers in the boat killed.

    He admitted that they lost one fighter in the operation with two injured.  Enditem