SECURITY: The Central Naval Command on Monday confirmed the killing of twelve suspected pirates during a rescue operation of an hijacked oil vessel along the Forcados axis of Delta State in the Niger Delta. It was gathered that the recovered vessel identified as MT NOTRE was carrying 17, 000 Metric Tones of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and was hijacked by suspected sea-pirates in the Gulf of Guinea last Thursday. Briefing news men in Yenagoa, the Flag Officer Commanding Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Sidi- Ali Hassan said though the Navy operatives have been on red alert due to the renewed vigour to tackle oil theft and illegal bunkering in the region,an emergency signal was sent through to the CNC from the Flag Officer Commanding(FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral IE Ibas which prompted the dispatch of NNS ANDONI and NNS IKOT ABASI to engage the bandits in hot pursuit. Also deployed according to him,were six other gun boats and NN Vessels increment, NNS Delta in Warri and the Navy operation base in Egweama, Brass known as FORMOSO operational commands. Eight NN vessels were used in pursuit of the hijacked MT Norte with 16 suspected pirates on board. The Participating ships eventually shadowed the hijacked vessel and forced her back into Nigerian waters, the Flag Officer disclosed. An agreed drop point was reached but the suspected militants refused to disembark as earlier agreed. They were obviously playing for time and darkness to set in. They finally agreed to disembark from MT Norte at 2045hrs on 17th of August,2013 on condition that only one NN vessel would remain in the vicinity of the MT Norte. A total of 16 militants disembarked from the MT Norte instead of 20 that were earlier claimed to be on board. The captain also confirmed that no other militant was left on board and no crew member from MT Norte was taken hostage. After disembarking from the ship,the hijackers made a fast move towards the coastline. Accordingly, NNS Badagry immediately engaged the boat in hot pursuit. Efforts to get the hijackers to stop and surrender proved abortive as they engaged NNS Badagry in a gun battle, the Naval Chief explained. According to him, the gun battle lasted for about 30mins after which they were overpowered by the NN gunboat. He said on taking over the speed boat, four of the militants were alive and unhurt while the rest of the pirates were killed in the cross fire, adding that the four survivors, their belongings and three AK 47 rifles were recovered and brought on board NNS Badagry base.On the possible recovery of the bodies of the suspected pirates, Rear Admiral Usman said that the bodies of the sea-pirates killed could not be recovered as their boat sank because of the damage done to it. He commended the coordinated nature of the response by the various participating units and commands of the Nigerian Navy. Usman also lauded the outstanding performance of the Maritime Patrol Aircraft from the Nigerian Air Force which he said gave impetus to efforts to keep the hijacked vessel under constant watch.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 03:00:37 +0000