Government should act for hijacked Nigerian seamen in Somalia

May 5th, 2009

 

 

Abuja (Nigeria) - Ten months after ten Nigerians were captured on the high seas by Somali pirates, neither the ship nor its crew have been located. The ship had just been purchased newly by a Nigerian business concern, ESL Integrated Services Limited when the incident occurred in August 2008. The pirates demanded $1 million, which from all indications was too much for its owners to pay.

Since then, neither government nor the owners of the ship has said anything about the demands of the pirates nor has anyone negotiated with pirates for the rescue of our compatriots who were pursuing legitimate business. It is very probable that the ship and its crew still remain in the hands of the pirates. This is an embarrassing situation both for the ship's owners and for the Nigerian government. It is an incident with weighty consequences for international diplomacy and the way in which Nigeria; a supposed giant is taking an affront on its statehood by rogues and criminals.

Judging by the role Nigeria has played in many crises on the continent and its aspirations for international leadership, the matter should have been taken more seriously as a measure of the value of every Nigerian citizen and also to back the claim made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the core of its foreign policy would be driven by what it called citizen diplomacy. That policy would have demanded that our government makes the citizen the centrepiece of its foreign policy. This, in practical terms ought to mean that no Nigerian would have their rights or freedom curtailed by any individual, group or government outside its shores without strenuous efforts made to help them. This is the failure of the first litmus test for the so-called citizen diplomacy. It is also bad signals for re-branding. No nation can rebrand when its citizens cannot vouch for the ability of its government to defend them in times of need.

It took the intervention of the National Assembly to begin to sensitize Nigerians about the plight of these citizens, and a whole ten months later. It is equally curious that the owners of the ship have not shown concern for the safety of its employees even if it had no use for its newly acquired vessel. Even more disturbing is the fact that the family of the captured crew have acted complacently. We wonder whether they know things they are not willing to share with the public. There should therefore be an enquiry into how it took about a year before information of the seized men became known.

We call on the government and its relevant ministries and departments to urgently explain to Nigerians what it has done to secure the release of these Nigerians. We are well aware of Somalia as a failed state with no central government, but there must be other avenues for solving this problem, after all, Somalia still has ambassadors in many nations and treaties on human rights and freedom of movement are still binding.

We call on the Somali authorities to cooperate with the Nigerian government to ensure that the lives of these Nigerians are safe and to secure their release as quickly as possible. Perhaps we need to remind the Somalians the price that Nigerians paid, in the global bid to fix the problem in Somalia. Certainly, this is no way to treat fellow Africans. We also call on the National Assembly to treat Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba's motion with the seriousness it deserves by conducting a special public hearing on this issue to shed light on areas not covered in its investigations. The hearing should contain ways and means of bringing the seamen home. It is one sure way to reassure Nigerians that they would be protected anywhere in the world provided that they live and pursue legitimate business.

 

source.Daily Trust (Nigeria)