The activities of sea pirates have continued unabated as three Cameroonians and two Nigerians have been kidnapped along Calabar – Oron water ways.
The ship, popularly called D-Simeon and owned by a Cameroonian with Geromu company as its Nigerian agent, arrived Nigeria on Thursday last week and berthed at Shore-Line Logistics yard along Marina beach in Calabar in Nigerian border.
An eye-witness, Johnson Mbinag, said the ship, which set sail about on Monday evening, ran into the sea pirates who attacked them and whisked away five persons including assistant captain, chief engineer, security officer, all Cameroonians, the loader and a trader from Enugu.
Mbinag said the pirates robbed them of cash and valuable items worth hundreds of thousands of naira, leaving them stranded, adding that the ship was heading for Jiko in Cameroon.
These pirates, DAILY SUN investigations reveal, are mostly former militants between the ages of 20 and 30, who are said to have be operating from a creek around Bakassi axis for quite some time now.
Sources close to security operatives informed DAILY SUN that these sea robbers have been cordoning off the old Bakassi water-ways and robbing hundreds of passengers including students travelling to Cameroon, tourists and traders and dispossessed them of monies and valuable items ranging from handsets, jewelries and handbags.
Decrying the activities of these sea robbers, a staff of the Nigeria agent of the ship, Monday Nwachukwu, said the kidnapping of the three Cameroonians and two Nigerians have put their business at risk.
Nwachukwu said: “The activities of these boys are becoming unbearable. Kidnapping our partners from Cameroon is very bad and portrays us in bad light. I doubt if the ship will come to Nigeria again after they have regained freedom. Where do we get money to pay ransom at this hard time?
“The worst is that as I am talking with you, we have not got a call from the militants to even know whether they are alive and all that. We will meet and decide on the next line of action to get them out.”
SOURCE: sunnewsonline.com
