Nigerian separatists have hijacked a merchant ship and threatened to blow it up with its foreign crew if authorities do not release a detained leader agitating for a breakaway state of Biafra, military officers said today.
Major General Rabe Abubakar, the Defense Ministry spokesman, confirmed the hijacking occurred on Friday and called it “an act of sabotage.”
He did not tell reporters the name of the ship. Abubakar spoke yesterday. Other officers told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the navy is in pursuit of the captured vessel. The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive, said the hijackers have given the Government 31 days to free Kanu or say they will blow up the ship along with its crew. The ultimatum was given at the weekend by a militant identified by the nom de guerre of General Ben.