By Alexis Akwagyiram

LAGOS, April 11 (Reuters) – Six Turkish members of a cargo ship’s crew have been kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, a spokesman for the Nigerian navy stated on Monday.

The crew members of the service provider tanker M/T Puli have been kidnapped some 90 miles from the coast at round 1:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) on Monday, navy spokesman Chris Ezekobe stated.

“Six crew members were abducted. They included the captain, the chief officer and chief engineer,” Ezekobe stated. “They were all Turkish.”

The spokesman stated the navy was going to board the vessel to talk to different crew members.

Last month, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea agreed to ascertain mixed patrols to bolster safety within the Gulf of Guinea. The gulf is a big supply of oil, cocoa and metals for world markets, however pirates pose a risk to delivery firms.

They goal oil tankers, often looking for hostages for ransom and gas to promote. Security analysts say the pirates have emerged from militant teams in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, such because the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

A lawyer for Kaptanoglu Group, an Istanbul-based delivery firm, stated the crew members kidnapped from the M/T Puli included the ship’s captain and that these left behind have been unhurt, based on the newspaper Hurriyet.

The tanker was carrying liquid chemical fuels and was travelling to Cameroon, Hurriyet stated, citing the lawyer, Fehmi Ulgener. (Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley, in Istanbul; modifying by Larry King)

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