10 Turkish sailors abducted in Nigeria

A Turkish cargo ship was attacked by pirates off the coast Nigeria on early Tuesday with 10 sailors, all Turkish nationals, taken hostage for ransom.

The Paksoy-1 was sailing from Cameroon to Ivory Coast when the pirates boarded the ship in the Gulf of Guinea.

It was not carrying freight and eight sailors managed to escape. Turkey says it is working to secure the release of those seized.

The International Maritime Bureau says the Gulf of Guinea is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy.

We contacted those who were not kidnapped and found out that all crew members hid when the assailants boarded the ship. All of them had to come out of hiding when the assailants found some and threatened to kill them if the others did not come out. The assailants then picked 10 sailors at random among all the crew members and let others go, said Numan Paksoy, operations manager at Turkish Kadıoğlu Maritime, according to Turkish media Daily Sabah.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the pirates abandoned the ship, which was later towed to Tema Harbor in Ghana. The statement said that the ministry was in contact with Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities to secure the release of the kidnapped Turkish citizens.