Suspected pirates have hijacked 8 fishing vessels with a total of 96 crew members in Bayelsa state in Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta region. It is reported that the President of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, confirmed that the vessels were hijacked Thursday in the Sambrayo area of the state, when armed men attacked the vessels, owned by NITOA members. She said one of the crew members on board one of the vessels notified the Nigerian Navy about the incident, saying the pitrates had navigated the vessels to the deeper sea. But a spokesman for the Nigerian Navy (NN) unit in the oil region, Lt. Way Olabisi, said he was not aware of the attack. Also, the spokesman for the Military Task Force deployed to the restive oil region, Lt.-Col Sagir Musa, said he had no information on the attack. NITOA has recorded more than 64 piracy attacks so far this year, with several crew members either killed or injured.
