Nigeria ? Militants in Nigeria said today that they released one of three Italian hostages seized last month in an attack in the country’s oil-rich southern delta region.

The militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which has launched crippling attacks against the energy industry in Africa’s oil giant since last year, announced the release in an e-mailed statement and identified the freed hostage as Roberto Dieghi.

Three Italians and one Lebanese man were seized in the Dec. 7 raid on an oil export terminal operated by Agip, a subsidiary of Italian oil firm Eni SpA.

The militant group had said Wednesday it was negotiating over the men’s release with the local Bayelsa State government.

The statement said the release “had absolutely nothing to do with Roberto Dieghi’s poor state of health. The release of Mr. Dieghi is an act of goodwill on our part which we hope will be reciprocated by the Nigerian government.”

Dieghi was handed over to the government delegation, the statement said. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim and there was no word on Dieghi’s condition.