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| 3 of the arrested pirates. |
Graphic Online reports that the pirates were armed but no one, including a nine-member crew aboard MT Mariam, was injured when the Ghana Navy crew aboard GNS Blika effected the arrest 26 nautical miles south east of Tema after the ship had drifted into Ghanaian waters.
The owner of MT Mariam, Mr. Nakase Sunday told journalists in Tema that the hijacking occurred at 5:00 am on January 11, 2015 at Warri in Nigeria, adding that the vessel contained approximately 1,500 metric tomes of crude oil when it was captured by the pirates.
The hijackers seized the vessel and allegedly drained it of its oil.
Mr. Nakase said the ship was en route to Togo when it was hijacked. He said he immediately flew into Ghana last Friday after he had detected via a tracking system that the ship had drifted into the Ghanaian waters and quickly approached the Ghana Navy for assistance.
He was full of commendation to the Ghana Navy for the swift response which led to the capture of all the pirates and saving the lives of his crew and vessel, adding that though the products were lost, he was glad the crew and vessel were safe.
All the 8 pirates, identified to be Nigerians have been brought ashore at Tema pending further investigations. They are Molih Williams, 32; Peggy Aki, 32; Ebiyaibo Amos, 32 and Molih Klinsman, 31; David Jacob, 30; Ayetimiyi Oyinle, 29; Pinamo Samiyo, 26 and Picolo John, 25.
The Navy crew retrieved an amount of $1,270 and 43,850 Naira as well as four AK47 assault rifles, ten fully loaded AK47 magazines with a total of 300 rounds of ammunition, one pump action gun, 18 mobile phones, one digital camera, one hair clipper, three hand held VHF radio, seven wrist watches and other personal belongings from the pirates.
