{{The Nigerian sailors had started marching four captured pirates onto a boat when an officer shouted “hold on” to give the cameras a chance to get into position.}}<\/p>\n
With a semi-circle of local reporters in dark orange life jackets snapping photos and rolling film, the men started moving again at Lagos naval command, chains clanking around their ankles.<\/p>\n
The four were arrested during one of only two successful operations against a sharp rise in pirate attacks this year – and Nigerian authorities were determined to squeeze the maximum publicity out of their coup.<\/p>\n
Pirate raids off West Africa’s coastline have jeopardized shipping of commodities from the region, while insurance costs are soaring.<\/p>\n
Commodore Chris Ezekobe, naval commander at the NNS Beecroft, a Lagos naval base, said the four had hijacked the barge and its crew on August 14 on the eastern edge of the Nigerian coast, near the port city of Calabar.<\/p>\n
The navy intercepted the vessel, which had the pirates’ speedboat in tow behind it. No one came out, nor did they respond to a radio call, Ezekobe said.<\/p>\n
After the navy fired shots across their bow, they dropped their weapons into the water, he said, with the four bedraggled and skinny men in shorts and T-shirts standing behind him as he spoke.<\/p>\n
Last week, the navy said it killed 12 pirates in a gun battle as they tried to flee a fuel tanker, and captured the four remaining survivors.<\/p>\n
“These guys and the guys on the other boat, that’s it,” he said, when asked how many pirates had been arrested this year.<\/p>\n
Police operations faced significant challenges in the oil-producing Niger Delta’s labyrinthine creeks and swamps, he added.<\/p>\n
“It’s easy to make a sneak attack and head back into the creeks,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n
The crew of nine who had been taken hostage were also on the freed vessel during his statement. None spoke to the press.<\/p>\n
It is very rare for the navy to catch pirates. Vessels are usually quickly robbed of cargo and valuables then released, while the pirates make their escape.<\/p>\n
Crews are usually abducted alongside the boat, sometimes for ransom, which makes it dangerous to fire on the pirates to stop them, Lagos Navy spokesman Jerry Omodara said.<\/p>\n
{reuters}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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