Nigerian navy recovers hijacked oil tanker after gun battle

The Nigerian navy has rescued a hijacked oil tanker,
arresting six men
Officers engaged in a gun battle with the pirates on
board, killing one of them, the Nigerian navy said
The suspected hijackers, all Nigerians, are paraded in front of the media in Lagos.
Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)— This was the dramatic moment that the Nigerian Navy
showed six men who they say hijacked a Saudi Arabian oil tanker off Ivory Coast.
Bare-chested and handcuffed, the men were paraded in front of local and
international media as the Nigerian naval officers described how they stormed the
ship on Saturday and arrested the pirates off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe,
West Africa.
Officers engaged in a gun battle with the pirates on board, killing one of them, the
Nigerian navy said. His body was later seen being carried from the ship on
Monday at the Lagos naval base.
The Saudi Arabian tanker, Maximus, was taken on February 11 with at least 18
crew, including 10 Indian sailors.
Two of the crew are still missing after they were taken hostage by two pirates
who escaped in another vessel. The hostages are believed to be from India and
Pakistan.
The suspected hijackers, all Nigerians, were named as Captain Mike Ugborama,
Ayo Joshua, Marcus Adesoji, Adeyemi Paul, Oluwafemi Samuel, and Collins Friday.
Among the haul recovered from the ship were AK47s, magazines, bullets,
different currencies, satellite phones and even protection charms from local
traditional medicine men.
Rear Admiral Henry Babalola told CNN the ship, chartered by a South Korean
company, was carrying 4.700 metric tons of diesel, which the pirates hoped to
sell on the black market. They had also renamed the vessel MT-ELVIS-5 to try to
avoid detection.
The Indian defense attache, Capt. Gautam Marwaha, was at the scene to
welcome the rescued crew. He told CNN no ransom demand had been received
yet for the missing crew members.
However he hailed the operation a "success," adding "as we say in the Navy:
'Bravo, Zulu to the Nigerians.'"