NIGER DELTA

Five tanker crew snatched by pirates.

 
Heavily armed pirates have ransacked a tanker off Nigeria, kidnapping five crew members.
A gang, according to agency reports, clambered onto the 7,600-deadweightSP Brussels (built 2007) in the Niger Delta on Monday before making off with the hostages.
The vessel's operator, Medallion Marine, reportedly stated that it is working with local authorities to ensure the safe return of its employees.
“The remaining crew members are all safe and the vessel has now arrived at the port of Lagos,” a statement said.

While Medallion did not offer any information relating to the hijacked crew, sources have suggested three Indians, a Pakistani and a Ghanaian have been taken. 

Confirmation of the incident comes only 24 hours after six employees of the South Korean firm Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) were reportedly snatched from a crewboat off Bayelsa State.
According to Police, the four foreign nationals and two Nigerians were taken in on Monday.
"At about 15:30 (1430 GMT), some armed men went to a Hyundai location in a forest by the Atlantic Ocean beach and kidnapped four expatriates and two Nigerians," Bayelsa State Police Command spokesperson Fidelis Odunna told journalists.

He said: "The Police are going to beef up security around all companies that have expatriates."
A fisherman, Tare Kolugha, said that he witnessed the abductions as the workers were travelling to their workplace in southern Bayelsa State.
"We were on the waters fishing close to Odioma Creek when we noticed two ... boats with armed men (who) shot into the air and stopped the passenger boat conveying the Hyundai workers to their yard," he told AFP.
HHI confirmed the kidnappings, but said that one of the Nigerians had apparently been released.

"The Foreign Ministry and the South Korean Embassy in Nigeria are operating an emergency task force led by the Ambassador," the company stated.
"Related government agencies have held emergency meetings and are keeping in close contact with the Nigerian Police authorities and the Foreign Ministry to ensure the safety and early release of the abductees," it said.
Most non-Nigerians working for HHI in Bayelsa are South Korean.