Two South Korean fishermen
kidnapped in waters off Ghana in August have been released, their company said
Saturday.
The two were abducted on August 28, when their
Ghanaian-flagged fishing vessel was attacked by a group of armed militants in
waters, 200 kilometers southeast of Ghana.
The boat had a total of 50 crew members, but the
militants had only taken the two South Koreans hostage, Seoul officials said
earlier.
“The crew members were released
just now,” an official from their employer, BSK, told Yonhap News Agency,
adding the two are now in Nigeria.
Their health conditions are not yet known, the
official said, noting that the South Korean Embassy in Nigeria has supported
negotiations for their release.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press
release in Seoul, saying the freed fishermen are in relatively good health and
have been sent to a safe place arranged by the South Korean Embassy in Nigeria.
“The Koreans were released at 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 17
(Korean time) or 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 16 (Nigerian time). In accordance with their
will, they will move to Ghana, where they were stationed, as soon as a flight
is secured,” the ministry said.
The ministry said it arranged telephone calls between the
freed fishermen and their families soon after their release and that it plans
to offer all possible consular support for their safe return to Ghana.
Their release came 50 days after
their abduction.
The two South Koreans and 48 Ghanaian crew members
were aboard the 500-ton vessel AP 703 at 8:04 a.m. on the August day when the
attack occurred. The pirates took only the Koreans and headed toward Nigeria.
The Ghanaian crew members all returned to their country.
The incident came two months after five Korean
sailors were abducted in waters off Benin in western Africa. They were aboard
the Ghanaian vessel Panofi Frontier when it was attacked by an armed group on
June 24. They were released in southern Nigeria a month later. Earlier in May,
a Korean shrimp fisherman was kidnapped off the coast of Gabon and was released
the following month.
Following repeated abductions in waters off West
Africa, calls have been mounting for the government to craft stronger safety
measures, such as restricting fishing or other operations in the perilous
waters.
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