Gunmen kidnap 6 Julius Berger staff - Demand N20m ransom

Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt - 13.03.2008

A Bonny-bound vessel belonging to Julius Berger was on Wednesday waylaid and hijacked by suspected pirates on the New Calabar River waterway in Rivers State. The hoodlums have promptly demanded a N20 million ransom for the release of the vessel.

Nigerian Tribune gathered from security sources that the armed men, in about three speedboats, held up the vessel with its six-man crew and two tugboats, shooting sporadically into the air.

According to them, when the hoodlums climbed unto the board of the vessel, they seized the crew members and sent one of them off with the message of the attack and their demand.

They were reported to have threatened that if the N20 million ransom was not paid, they would blow up the vessel with its remaining crew members.

The nationalities of the six crew members were not known at the time of filing this report, but the vessel was carrying building materials.

When contacted, the Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, said he was not aware of the development.

But senior officers in the State Security Service (SSS) who did not want their names mentioned, confirmed the incident.