[Regnum] Twelve people were taken hostage by pirates who attacked a passenger ship in Cross River State in southeastern Nigeria. This was reported by the Leadership newspaper.
River pirates — how exciting.According to police spokesperson Irene Ugbo, the vessel attacked was the Heavenly Grace, which departed from Calabar in Cross River State for Oron in Akwa Ibom State over the weekend.
After a few hours of travel, armed men caught up with the ship. They forced the crew to stop, then forced all the passengers to go onto their boat, and then disappeared in an unknown direction.
“In addition to taking passengers hostage, the kidnappers moved all the passengers’ belongings from the boat to their own and disappeared, leaving the empty boat to drift at sea,” the statement said.
Ugbo said the police command had commenced investigation into the incident. She said there had been no such attacks in the Calabar River estuary area in recent times.
As reported by Regnum, earlier in April, armed militants attacked several villages in Benue State in southeastern Nigeria. They fired randomly at people with automatic weapons. As a result, at least 56 people were killed in one night alone. Presumably, the villages of farmers were attacked by an ethnic group of nomadic herders. Similar clashes occur in the country over land and water sources.
Related:
Cross River State: 2023-12-29 Cameroon's Ambazonian Militants Retaliated In Cross River Community After Nigerian Army Attack
Cross River State: 2022-06-30 Nigerian Army Killed Septuagenarian, Burnt Houses, Displaced Residents In Cross River Community After Losing Six Officers To Militants
Cross River State: 2016-09-06 Boko Haram bomb maker ‘fails in bid to join army’
Cross River State: 2023-12-29 Cameroon's Ambazonian Militants Retaliated In Cross River Community After Nigerian Army Attack
Cross River State: 2022-06-30 Nigerian Army Killed Septuagenarian, Burnt Houses, Displaced Residents In Cross River Community After Losing Six Officers To Militants
Cross River State: 2016-09-06 Boko Haram bomb maker ‘fails in bid to join army’