Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested two suspected members of a sea piracy syndicate in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, following intelligence reports of an imminent maritime attack in the Gulf of Guinea. The suspects were apprehended on Saturday at a hotel located on Tenacious Street in the Edepie area of the city, where security operatives said they were concluding plans for a major operation.
Officials of the service, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the press, disclosed that the arrests were intelligence-driven and aimed at preventing the hijacking of a crude oil-laden vessel.
According to one of the sources, preliminary intelligence and confessional statements indicated that the suspects and their associates intended to seize a vessel, abduct its crew, and steal its cargo.
“Operatives of the DSS on Saturday arrested two suspected members of a band of sea pirates in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, as they were fine-tuning plans to hijack a crude oil-laden vessel in the Gulf of Guinea,” the source said.
The source added that “preliminary intelligence, corroborated by the suspects’ confessional statements, revealed that the men, along with other band members, were plotting to seize a vessel, abduct its crew, and steal its cargo.”
Further investigations reportedly showed that the suspects belonged to a wider criminal network operating across the South-East and South-South regions of the country.
“The duo have admitted to being part of a high-profile criminal network operating in the South East and South South parts of Nigeria, mainly profiting from sea piracy and kidnapping,” the source disclosed.
Another security source revealed that the DSS, in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies, had intensified intelligence-led operations to curb rising maritime security threats in the region.
The source noted that these efforts had recently resulted in the interception of pirate speedboats and the rescue of crew members from hijacked vessels off the coasts of Bayelsa and Delta States, adding that the latest arrests further underscored ongoing security successes.
In a related development, the DSS was said to have carried out separate joint operations with other security agencies and forest guards about a week earlier, leading to the rescue of abducted pastors and other victims in Kaduna and Borno States.