By Steve Agbota
Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped on cargo ship MV Mozart by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have been freed in Nigeria and will head home, two weeks after the attackers made contact to discuss ransom.
One sailor, a citizen of Azerbaijan, was killed in the raid on January 23, which crew, family members and security sources described as a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack. Those kidnapped were from Turkey.
Spokesman of the ship owner, Istanbul-based Boden Shipping, Levent Karsan, said in a television interview that the sailors were all in good health in Nigeria and would travel to Turkey in the coming days.
“This wasn’t a political kidnapping. This kind of kidnapping happens in that region unfortunately and is completely aimed at getting ransom,” Karsan said.
He said talks to free the sailors had been handled by a team based in Hamburg, Germany. It was previously reported that the Liberian-flagged container ship, the Mozart, was headed to Cape Town from Lagos when it was attacked 160 km off Sao Tome island. The pirates made first contact with Boden on January 28 to discuss ransom. The governor had also approved the imposition of curfew in Shasha between 6pm and 7am