Terrorism in Nigeria - Gunmen kidnap Chevron oil vessel, demands N30 million to release hostages
An unknown group of gunmen on Tuesday night, seized a vessel reported to be affiliated to Chevron Oil, and kidnapped its 11 passengers, nine of whom are Nigerians, a Portuguese and an Ukranian. The gunmen are demanding a ransom of N30 million for the release of the hostages.
The boat owned by Tide Waters was said to be carrying supplies for the American oil company— Chevron. The attack on Lourdes Tide took place between Onne and Escravos.
Spokesman for the Joint Task Force in the state, Lieutenant Col Sagir Musa, confirmed the attack, saying: “A vessel working for Chevron was sailing from Onne to Escravos and was hijacked by unknown gunmen in the early hours of yesterday (Tuesday).The exact location was not known. It is believed that it happened in Krakrama general area. Specifically in Fouch Island. Of 11 people in the vessel, one is a Portuguese and the other Ukrainian.
Spokesman for Chevron, Mr. Tope Idowu, said: “It is not our vessel. It belongs to a firm, Tide Waters, working for us. They are into marine services. The name of the vessel is MV Lourdes Tide. It was leaving to Escravos from Onne. I don’t know at the moment if it had supplies.”
Lieutenant Col Musa, said no casualty was recorded during the attack, adding that no group had claimed responsibility for the development. He said effort was in top gear to uncover those behind the hijack.
Chevron and the Portuguese embassy have both separately promised to take necessary actions to secure the release of the hostages and nationals respectively.
In the meantime, the Niger-Delta militancy group, MEND, has dissociated itself from the incident. “We are aware of those behind the attack and do not support their motive. However, we will not see ourselves working on the side of the government in aiding the release of the hostages,” MEND said in the press statement.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I am waiting for the update of this situation. thank you