Fifteen east European sailors, including 12 Russians, have been bailed out almost two years after they were put in a Nigerian prison on oil smuggling charges.

"They (Russians) now stay in our trade representation's place in Lagos," a diplomat with the Russian Embassy in Lagos told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The sailors, also including two Romanians and a Georgian, could not leave Nigeria since they were released on the security of their passports and the guarantees of their embassies, he said.

"They should undergo a medical examination," he said when asked about their health, adding that the sailors will attend further hearings scheduled for Wednesday and October 21. If convicted, they could face life in jail.

The sailors were the crew of a Greek oil tanker, the African Pride, which was sailing under a Panamanian flag when it was detained near the Nigerian coast on October 8, 2003.

The Nigerian navy said that the ship had 11,300 tons of crude onboard allegedly stolen from its oil-rich Niger Delta. The sailors were then arrested and formally charged five months later.

The stop-and-go trials have led to the strained diplomatic relations between Russia and Nigeria. And last month, a Nigeria court agreed to release the sailors on bail.

Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer with a daily output of about 2.5 million barrels, is believed to lose more than 100,000 barrels to oil theft per day.

Source: Xinhua