Tag Archives: Pirates

Pirates release Russian expatriates kidnapped in Niger Delta

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Russian news agencies reported on Sunday that seven Russian sailors and one Ukrainian captured by Nigerian pirates have been released.

General cargo ship BBC Caribbean cargo vessel was attacked on Nigeria’s territorial waters on February 5.

The sailors were reportedly released after dialogue was held between the owners of the ship and pirates.

According to NAN, Interfax news agency quoted human rights activist Pavel Butsay as saying the sailors were at Frankfurt airport and planned to return home next week.

“We have great news: our sailors are in Frankfurt (Germany) already, all are fine, the talks went successfully, all eight crew members, who have been seized, are freed now – seven Russians and one Ukrainian,” Butsay said.

“Germany’s Briese company had tough negotiations, during which jointly with the Russian embassy they undertook all necessary measures for soonest liberation.”

He added that the sailors’ families had been informed about their regained freedom.

According to NAN, a similar incident occurred in February 2016, when Nigerian sailors captured Ivan Rudny, a 32-year-old Russian seaman, along with his colleagues from the French vessel Bourbon Liberty 251 in the Gulf of Guinea.

Rudny was reportedly released after ransom was paid.

 

Source: The Cable

Pirates Abduct Russians, Ukrainian In Nigeria.

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Pirates have abducted seven Russian sailors and one Ukrainian in the territorial waters of Nigeria, the Russian embassy has said.

Russian Embassy in Nigeria reported on Wednesday that, “the BBC Caribbean ship came under a piratic attack in the territorial waters of Nigeria.”

The Russian embassy said on its Twitter page that, “Seven Russian citizens and one Ukrainian citizen have been kidnapped from the ship”.

The Russian embassy has asked the Nigerian authorities for assistance in establishing the whereabouts of the abducted.”

According to Russia News Agency, Maritime Herald on Tuesday said the general cargo ship BBC Caribbean was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea 45 nautical miles south-west off Brass, Nigeria.

The incident happened near Pennington Oil Terminal at Nigerian Delta, when the cargo ship was approached by a motor skiff with armed men on board, who opened fire.

The guards on board of the general cargo ship BBC Caribbean returned fire.

On November 27 last year three Russian sailors were taken hostage when the Saronic Breeze ship was attacked in the territorial waters of Benin. On December 20 all were freed.

On February 23 last year the Bourbon Liberty 251 ship belonging to a French company was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.

The attackers eventually fled taking two hostages, one of them Russia’s Ivan Rydny. He was freed in March 2016 to return to his family in Murmansk.

The news of the hostage taking was also broken in the Twitter handle of Rus to En Fr Es News ?@Rus_Eng_News which said “In Nigeria pirates kidnapped seven Russians and the citizen of Ukraine’’

Ruslan TradVerified account ?@ruslantrad had #BREAKING: pirates took hostage 8 sailors from #Russia and #Ukraine in the territorial waters of #Nigeria.

It said “In connection with the seizure of the Embassy of the Russian Federation requested the authorities of Nigeria’s assistance in locating the stolen.’’

 

Source: NAN

D’banj: Nigeria does not have piracy. I’ve never been pirated.

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Dapo ‘D’banj’ Oyebanjo, Afro singer, says Nigeria is the only country in the world where piracy does not exist.

The Kokomaster on Thursday said his creative efforts have never been pirated.

The singer made this comment at the inaugural edition of Music Week Africa, which held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Lagos.

Explaining the reasoning behind his assertion, D’banj noted that what goes on in Alaba international market can’t exactly be called piracy because original CDs are being sold side by side supposedly pirated works.

“Nigeria is the only country in the world that does not have piracy,” he said emphatically.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’ve never been prated because it’s the same place they are selling original that they are selling the fake CDs.”

When asked which was more commercially rewarding between e-sales of music and physical sales, he said “the money is everywhere. Everyone is playing their own role. The market is here”.

D’banj further revealed that he has entered into a partnership with SLOT to have CD stands located at their phone outlets.

The singer who has been a brand ambassador for several brands, also noted that companies need to include artistes in their plans before entering into partnership.

D’banj urged companies to seek the ideas of prospective brand ambassadors and incorporate it into theirs.

“Brands always have their plan and they expect the artiste to follow it but it requires more collaborative planning with the artistes,” he added.

NCC Invades North-East, Arrests 6 For Anti-Piracy

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The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), has launched the anti-piracy offensive in the North-East and arrested six suspected film pirates, Mr. Augustine Amodu, the commission’s Director of Enforcement, has said.

Amodu made the disclosure in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that the offensive was part of the commission’s zero-tolerance drive against piracy in all its forms across major cities and markets in the six geo-political zones of the country.

He said: “the enforcement raid against the suspected film pirates was carried out by a team of Copyright Inspectors backed by armed policemen.

“Such operations will continue unhindered because piracy is a menace to our economy.

“The Commission in this new offensive will not relent in its effort until the activities of suspected pirates are stamped out of the region.

“It is no longer business as usual for pirates so that right owners can enjoy the reward for their efforts.’’

The director pointed out that as part of its enforcement operations in the North-East, the Commission raided suspected film pirates in Bauchi metropolis.

He said that a total of 1, 611 pirated DVDs and 2,200 empty packets used in packaging pirated DVDs, worth N321, 550 were seized from the suspects.

He said that the six arrested suspects were granted administrative bail while the investigation is ongoing.

NAN recalls that, as part of its intensified enforcement operations across Nigeria, NCC had in March seized and destroyed pirated items worth N2.4 billion in Enugu state.

It also carried out an anti-piracy raid at the Alaba International Market, an acclaimed hub of piracy activities, with pirated products worth millions of naira seized and many suspects arrested.

Nigerian Navy Rescues British-flagged Vessel From Pirates

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The Nigerian Navy yesterday said its Ship Nwamba has rescued a British-flagged cargo ship with call sign MT Vectis Osprey from sea pirates who attacked her 20 nautical miles offshore of Bonny.

A statement from Navy spokesman, Commodore Chris Ezekobe said the rescue operation was in response to a timely alert by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) to the Naval Regional Maritime Awareness Centre (RMAC).

He said: “the war ship was promptly deployed to track down and rescue the vessel. The British flagged MT Vectis Osprey departed Bonny offshore terminal and came under pirate attack on Wednesday 17   August 2016. “

He added that NNS Nwamba engaged the attackers on approaching the vessel which made them to abandon their mission due to superior fire power.

He also said, Naval special forces onboard the war ship embarked and rescued the crew who locked up themselves in a citadel in the merchant tanker.

Ezekobe said the crew and cargo of MT Vectis Osprey are safe while investigation has also commenced in order to unravel the circumstances of the attempted hijack, especially with regard to the current trend of involvement of crew members in attacks on their own vessels.

He also said the Ship owners are hereby advised to profile their crew before embarking them onboard to avoid situations in which some disgruntled crew members stage-manage attacks on their own vessels.

Credit: dailytrust

12 Feared Killed In Rivers As Pirates Ordered Passengers To Jump Into Sea

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At least, 12 persons are feared killed following an attack by bandits suspected to be sea pirates.

The sea pirates reportedly operated along the waterways in Kula Community in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The deceased were in four boats when they were attacked by pirates. They reportedly drowned in the sea.

It was gathered that the pirates ordered the occupants of the four boats to jump into the sea.

The four boats were said to have earlier left Kula jetty and moving towards Abonema in Asari-Toru Local Government Area before they met the pirates, who robbed the occupants of their personal belongings before ordering them to jump into the sea at gunpoint.

It was learnt that the incident occurred at about 6.30am on Monday and the hoodlums escaped with the four boats.

“The pirates stopped the passenger boats in the middle of the high sea and the occupants were forced to jump into the sea after being threatened with the gun. The pirates left with the four passenger boats,” a source within Kula said.

Credit: Punch

Pirates Attack Boat, Abduct 3 In Bayelsa

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Unidentified gunmen suspected to be sea pirates on Wednesday, attacked two passenger boats and kidnapped three persons along the Ogbia to Brass waterways in Bayelsa.

Asinim Butswat, Police Spokesman for Bayelsa Command, confirmed the development on Thursday but said that details were still sketchy, “I am waiting for details.”, Butswat said.

It was learnt that the abducted victims were two Okpoama community Chiefs, identified as Chief Blessing Wagio and Chief Isaac Akono-Igolo, as well as a security man whose identity could not be ascertained.

The victims’ boats reportedly left the Ogbia water front at about 2pm on Wednesday for Brass, when they came under attack around Kiberibio area of the Ogbia-Brass waterway.

A staff of the state Ministry of Education heading to Brass, a naval officer and a former Chief Librarian in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Chief Jigekuma Ombu-Kieri, escaped the attack unhurt.

An eyewitness in one of the boats, Mrs Kilete Arum, also told said that she saw an unidentified man lying face down in the pirates’ speed boat when they were being dispossessed of their valuables.

Credit: NAN

PIRATES ATTACK SHIP OFF THE COAST OF NIGERIA AGAIN

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Pirates have attacked a ship off the coast of Nigeria for the second time in as many days, but the attackers were thwarted in the latest incident by a quick-acting crew, an international maritime watchdog said Thursday.
The pirates opened fire Wednesday on a Nigerian-owned oil tanker about 80 nautical miles off Port Harcourt, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
Choong said the ship managed to escape after crew members enforced anti-piracy measures and increased vessel speed.
The attack came a day after Nigerian pirates robbed a cargo ship anchored at Port Harcourt and kidnapped at least two crew members.
“The trend is worrying. It shows that pirate attacks off Nigeria are continuing and getting more violent,” he said.
This brought to eight attacks this year off the coast of Nigeria alone, and there are believed to be many other cases that have gone unreported, Choong said.
Over the last year, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea — which follows Africa’s southward curve from Liberia to Gabon — has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts.
In August, London-based Lloyd’s Market Association, an umbrella group of insurers, listed Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia in East Africa, where two decades of war and anarchy have allowed piracy to flourish.
Two weeks ago, the captain and chief engineer of another cargo ship off Nigeria were killed in a pirate attack. The United Nations has urged Gulf of Guinea countries to jointly develop an anti-piracy strategy.
Some West African states, particularly Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Senegal, are taking steps to police their waters, but officials said most do not have sufficient maritime capability beyond 100 nautical miles off the coast.
Via The Associated Press.