Cameroon ship attacked off Nigeria, captain taken

AFP

28 August 2011

Cameroon ship attacked off Nigeria, captain taken

 

YAOUNDE — Seven heavily armed assailants boarded a Cameroonian ship with 150 people on board off the coast of Nigeria Saturday and took its captain hostage, a shipping company and a witness told AFP.

The others on board were released unharmed, they said.

"The Cameroonian ship Monica was attacked around 8:00 am (0700 GMT). The captain on board was abducted," a man who was on the ship during the attack said from Yaounde, adding that no one was injured.

A spokesman for the Corner Water Shipping Company Ltd, which manages the ship, confirmed the incident.

"The captain was kidnapped. Our office in Calabar is negotiating to have him freed. The passengers are unharmed," he said.

In Nigeria, navy spokesman Kabir Aliyu said the incident took place as the passenger boat was on its way from Cameroon to Oron in Nigeria.

"The captain was kidnapped while all passengers and crew (were) released," he said. "The boat left back to Cameroon this morning after being escorted by (Nigerian navy personnel)."