Seventy-one fishermen have been rescued and returned safely following a pirate attack at sea on Wednesday evening. Emmanuel Dawood Mensah, Central Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), reported that the assailants—speaking pidgin English—forced the fishermen to surrender their outboard motors, generators, mobile phones, and cash.
“They escaped with seven outboard motors, five generators, mobile phones, cash, and fuel,” Mr. Mensah confirmed. The fishermen were travelling in seven canoes: one from Team, two from Vorkor in the Greater Accra Region, and four from Senya Beraku in the Central Region.
Mr. Mensah commended the coordinated efforts of NADMO, the Navy, the Marine Police, the Fisheries Commission, and local fishing groups, which ensured the safe return of all crew members.
He added that police had taken statements from the crew, NADMO had conducted an assessment, and the Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya, Gizella Tetteh-Agbitui, had provided psycho-social support to the affected fishermen. Investigations are ongoing.
The President of the Ghana Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association, Nana Kweigah, said they received information about the incident around 7 pm on Wednesday. He explained that the crew had set sail from Senya Beraku earlier in the day but were attacked between Senya Beraku and Dampase in the Central Region. “The pirates were reported to have fired gunshots before ordering the crew members to hand over their phones, outboard motors, fuel and generators,” Nana Kweigah said He described the immediate challenge as locating and communicating with the fishermen at sea.
“Our biggest challenge was communication and locating the crews,” he explained. “In each case, the attackers reportedly forced one of the fishermen to call home and report the incident before confiscating all the phones. We struggled through the night to maintain contact.”
He added that even after alerting the Navy, pinpointing the exact position of the attacked canoes proved difficult.
Nana Kweigah, therefore, urged authorities to provide fishermen with improved communication and monitoring equipment to strengthen safety at sea. “There is a need to reconsider how we equip fishers with the right communication and tracking systems while at sea to ensure their protection,” he emphasised.
Source: Isaac Appiah Kubi
