Nigerian pirates release 7 Filipinos, 5 other foreigners kidnapped from Swiss ship in September

The 12 crew members who were kidnapped from the MV Glarus, a Swiss merchant vessel owned by Massoel Shipping, have been released by their abductors one month after they were taken.

Pirates had boarded the ship while it was travelling Nigerian waters between Lagos and Port Harcourt and abducted the crew on September 22, 2018. They boarded the Glarus by means of long ladders and cut the razor wire on deck to gain access to the vessel.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had disclosed that seven of the abducted victims are from the Philippines while the other five are nationalities of Slovenia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia.

According to a statement released by Massoel on Monday, October 29, the crew members have been released and were in Switzerland on Monday before returning to their homes.

The shipping company failed to provide details of how it secured the freedom of its crew "as to do so would only encourage further criminal acts of this kind."

The company is believed to have paid a ransom to the pirates as it had disclosed days after the abduction that it was in contact with the pirates and stressed that the safe return of its crew was its "first and absolute priority".

According to Swiss justice authorities, the release of the hostages took place on Friday, October 26.