Hope of early release of the captain and chief engineer of the Dutch vessel; MV Breiz Clipper who were abducted by pirates who attacked the cargo ship in Nigeria recently deemed yesterday following the change of mind of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) in facilitating the release of the captives.
The captain and the chief engineer as well as a Filipino had been in the custody of the pirates since their abduction, but last week, MEND offered to intermediate, only for the militant group to do a rethink on the matter.
Hope of early release of the captain and chief engineer of the Dutch vessel; MV Breiz Clipper who were abducted by pirates who attacked the cargo ship in Nigeria recently deemed yesterday following the change of mind of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) in facilitating the release of the captives.
The captain and the chief engineer as well as a Filipino had been in the custody of the pirates since their abduction, but last week, MEND offered to intermediate, only for the militant group to do a rethink on the matter.
The armed group an email to AFP on Sunday, said it would not mediate in the kidnapping and was unwilling to accept the prisoners.
“We were reluctant to accept the hostages,” the group said. “That vessel is unconnected with our struggle.” The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says it has been fighting for a fairer distribution of Nigerian oil revenue.”
This development coincided with the claim by the Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) in the Niger Delta to the effect that the pirates who attacked the cargo ship have all been killed.
The JTF linked the gang that attacked and killed some of its operatives last week with the pirates that have been laying ambush for ships sailing into the Niger Delta.
The JTF also confirmed that those who attacked its men Last week “were the criminals behind the series of pirate attacks within Nigerian territorial waters in the last 3 months.”
Shipping Position Daily had reported yesterday that MEND had last week confirmed that the both the Captain and the Chief Engineer and one crew were still alive.
The MEND had also indicated that the kidnappers had offered to hand over the two Russian sailors and one Filipino “who are all in good health” to one of the militant camps in neighbouring Rivers State. “We are considering this offer as these men were not captured from a vessel related to the Nigerian oil industry”, it said.
This development may further prolong the stay in custody of the three sailors.
Discussion about this post