SHOCKING!
Silence on Abducted Americans whereabouts off Nigerian Coast…Sea Pirates keep mum
*Attack on vessel C-Retriever took place near the Nigerian city of Brass, where the oil-rich Niger Delta empties into the Gulf of Guinea-INVESTIGATION
* Cmdr. Kabiru Aliyu, Nigerian Navy: “The Nigerian Navy has directed its operational command to search for and rescue the vessel and the crew members”
BY ADA CHIAMAKA HYGENIUS/NIGER-DELTA REPORTER, NIGERIA
TILL now, whereabouts have remained unknown of ‘kidnapped’ United States citizens-Captain and Chief Engineer of an American-flagged oil industry vessel by some Nigerian pirates near the Nigerian city of Brass, where the oil-rich Niger Delta empties into the Gulf of Guinea, in West Africa. The abductions appeared to be the first involving American hostages in that region in at least two years.
Confirming this abduction earlier an official of the private security firm, AKE Group, of Hereford, England, said the attack on the vessel, identified as the C-Retriever, took place near the Nigerian city of Brass, where the oil-rich Niger Delta empties into the Gulf of Guinea, in West Africa.
American Family members Expresses Worry
Naija Standard learnt that the families of these embattled Americans have been so worried on the safety of their ‘bread winners’, whom whereabouts as at now remain unknown.
Nigerian Navy Position
A spokesman for the Nigerian Navy, Cmdr. Kabiru Aliyu, confirmed the piracy attack. “The Nigerian Navy has directed its operational command to search for and rescue the vessel and the crew members. Right now, the search is going on, and we are tracking down the culprits. We don’t know how it was carried out.”
The C-Retriever’s owner, Edison Chouest Offshore, a marine transportation company based in Cut Off, La., issued no immediate comment. A company spokesman, Lonnie Thibodeaux, did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages.
In Washington, Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said at a regular daily news briefing that the administration was “seeking additional information so that we can contribute to the safe resolution of the situation.”
He also expressed concern about “the disturbing increase in the incidents of maritime crime, including incidents of piracy off the coast of West Africa, specifically in the Gulf of Guinea.”
Online maritime database services describe the C-Retriever as a 200-foot-long supply ship and put its last reported location at Onne, a Nigerian port about 70 miles east of Brass.
In recent months, oil servicing vessels in the Gulf of Guinea have become increasingly prominent targets of pirates who abduct crew members for ransom. Maritime industry officials say that much abduction are not reported, and that the ransoms are settled quickly and privately to avoid publicity over the amounts paid.
The abduction reported recently underscored the rising danger of piracy in West Africa over the past year, eclipsing the Somali coast on the other side of the continent.
