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Denmark releases three suspected pirates arrested in Gulf of Guinea
“We have no interest in getting the persons in question to Denmark,” Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup said, adding there was a “risk that they would not subsequently be deported.”
A fourth suspected pirate who was injured during a gunbattle with the Danish army is already in Denmark receiving medical care and will continue to face charges, he said.
Foreign citizens found guilty of crimes in Denmark are often deported after having served their time.
Haekkerup said he “had quite exceptionally ordered the prosecution to notify three of the four suspected pirates that charges against them would be dropped.”
Danish media said the men were put on a dinghy in international waters with enough fuel, water and food to reach land.
The fourth suspected pirate was flown to Denmark on January 6th, where he will face a custody hearing and “further prosecution against him continues.”
He was first admitted to a hospital in Ghana during a port call in December.
The Nov. 24. the incident involved the Danish frigate HDMS Esbern Snare, which was on an anti-piracy operation off West Africa.
It engaged in an exchange of fire with a vessel that was reported to have been approaching several commercial ships in the Gulf of Guinea off oil-rich Nigeria.
Following the gun battle, the vessel sank. Four of the suspected pirates were killed and one is missing, presumed drowned.
Later, because the ship is considered Danish territory, a Copenhagen court ordered the four held in custody while authorities investigate the case.
The Gulf of Guinea is one of the world’s most dangerous waterways with regular kidnappings. In 2019, the region accounted for more than 90% of global crew member abductions.
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EFCC denies disobeying court order on Yahaya Bello
The Eyewitness Reporter
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has denied the widely held claim that it flouted a court order restraining it from arresting or harassing Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State.
In a Press Statement signed by the EFCC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the Commission clearly pointed out that though Bello sought refuge in a fundamental rights enforcement action through an order granted by Justice Isa Jamil Abdulallahi of the Kogi State High Court, the order did not vitiate or nullify an order made by the Federal High Court for the arrest of the former governor for the purpose of his arraignment.“The enrolled Order of the Kogi State High Court only granted an order to enforce Bello’s right to personal liberty and freedom of movement, it didn’t preclude the Federal High Court ‘to make any Order as it may deem just in the determination of the rights of the Applicant and the Respondent as may be submitted to her for consideration and determination”, he said.
He further stressed that “The Order made by the Federal High Court for the arrest of Mr. Yahaya Bello for the purpose of his arraignment is not in conflict with the Order of the Kogi State High Court.
“The case before the Federal High Court is a criminal charge which is different from the fundamental rights enforcement action that is the subject of an appeal”.
Uwujaren pointed out that the EFCC had a shining track record in the prosecution of politically exposed persons and would continue to exercise its mandate in the overall interest of the nation.
” He admonished Bello to turn himself in and answer to the charges preferred against him by the Commission.
He called on all patriotic Nigerians to lend their voices in support of the Commission stressing that ” the EFCC will not relent in its quest to wrestle corruption to the ground”
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