Some people alleged to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have hijacked a ship off the coast of Nigeria. The hijack is a new twist in the face-off with the Federal Government over the continued detention of IPOB leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu. The hijackers are threatening to blow up the merchant ship with its foreign crew if the government did not release Kanu.
The yet-to-be identified hijackers are said to have given government a 31- day ultimatum to accede to their demand according to agency reports.
The incident took place last Friday with the Nigerian Navy in pursuit. Kanu, the director of the banned Radio Biafra, was apprehended at a Lagos hotel on October 17 by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), who charged him with terrorism.
The IPOB leader is currently being detained at Kuje Prisons. The ultimatum was given at the weekend by a militant identified as General Ben. A leader of a Biafran separatist movement, Uchenna Madu, said Ben was not a separatist but “some Niger Delta militants have shown interest in working with us.”
The hijack indicates the separatists group may have teamed up with Niger Delta militants, who were blamed for recent bombings of oil pipelines in the oil-rich region. Contacted, the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, in a telephone conversation with New Telegraph last night, said the ship was hijacked “outside the nautical miles of our waters.”
The Defence Spokesman gave the name of the ship as MT LEON DIAS (9279927); a tanker. He added that “the ship is presently in Benin waters, about 7.5 nautical miles off Cotonou Port, under the watch of the Benin Republic Navy.”
Rabe warned that “whoever decides to do this, either individuals or groups, it is a criminal act and an act of sabotage. “Actually, we are yet to know who did it; we are carrying out investigation.” He further noted that, “we cannot be intimidated by any group.”
