The Ghana Navy and other security agencies are probing the kidnapping of six crew members of a Ghanaian fishing vessel, Panofi Frontier, who were abducted by an unidentified armed group of pirates off the coast of Benin.
The six members who were part of thirty other crew members on board the Panofi Frontier were said to be on a fishing expedition in Benin waters when they were attacked by the pirates.
The Marine Police Commander at the Tema Port, Chief Superintendent Antwi Ababio, speaking on Eyewitness News stated that the pirates were said to have sailed towards Nigeria though the whereabouts of the hostages are currently not known.
“We however do not know where the six persons are but we are still getting in touch with our counterparts in Togo, Benin and Nigeria to know their whereabouts. According to the remaining crew members the pirates sailed towards the eastern part of the Benin waters. That means they are heading towards Nigeria,” he said.
“We have also alerted the INTERPOL. We are trying to marshal all agencies within the West African Coastline to see if we can get some information about the pirates and the six crew members. Luckily, the twenty-four others were brought ashore and they are with the Fio Marine Co Ltd., owners of the fishing vessel,” he added.
Piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea have become a source of increasing concern to the maritime sector as recent attacks are becoming more widespread and violent.
A report by the International Bureau on Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships suggest that there were at least 10 separate piracy attacks off Ghana’s coasts between 2015 and 2019.
The Gulf of Guinea is noted as a hot spot for piracy, accounting for the vast majority of sea-going hostage seizures and kidnappings globally, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has also said.
What we know about the kidnapping
On Wednesday, 24th June, 2020, six crew members of a Ghanaian fishing vessel, Panofi Frontier, were abducted by an unidentified armed group of pirates about two and half nautical miles south of Benin’s capital Cotonou.
The crew members included five Koreans and twenty-five Ghanaians. Five of those abducted are Koreans while the sixth person is a Ghanaian.
The pirates were said to have used aluminium boats fitted with 150 two horsepower outboard motors to attack the crew.