Benin Navy guarding Greek tanker, hostages held in Nigeria

Defence spokesman, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar also confirmed the ship was last night under the watch of the Benin Republic Navy. According to Nigerian media reports, the officials said that the vessel and her crew have now been released, and that the vessel is currently in the custody of Benin’s navy. The annexation sparked a three-year civil war in which more than one million people died, many due to hunger after the Nigerian military imposed a blockade on Biafra’s borders.

Nigerian separatists have hijacked a merchant ship and threatened to blow it up with its foreign crew if authorities do not release a detained leader agitating for a breakaway state of Biafra, military officers said Tuesday.

An oil tanker hijacked by suspected militants from the Niger Delta has been freed and is now located some 7.5 nautical miles near the Cotonou Port in Benin.

Investigation revealed that the crew members were from the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. “But [the ship] is now being guarded by Benin Republic Navy”. None of the crew members is a Nigerian.

“The Navy personnel in Benin Republic have been guarding the ship”.

The ultimatum was given at the weekend by a militant identified by the nom de guerre of General Ben. As of Wednesday, the Leon Dias’ AIS signature confirms that she is about five nautical miles off Cotonou.

Separately, he told Nigerian online news outlet Ynajia that the government would not categorize the attack as a politically motivated act of militancy, despite statements by the hijackers’ spokesman to the contrary.

“There is no militant, because the Amnesty Programme has taken care of our brothers”.

Enugu – The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have denied any involvement of their members in the seizure and threat to blow up a merchant ship carrying foreigners, reports Vanguard. “Therefore anybody who engages or is engaging in sabotage is engaging in an act of criminality and the law of the land will take its course”, he added.