News Bulletin Warri #1

 DFA CALLS ON NIGERIAN MILITANTS TO RELEASE SIX FILIPINO CAPTIVES; 
two EMBASSY officers SENT to warri to ASSIST IN their release  

22 January 2007 — The Department of Foreign Affairs called on the militants who abducted six Filipino seafarers to release them immediately. The Filipinos are not engaged or involved in politics or in political matters; they are engaged in shipping, a legitimate trade, which eventually will aid in the development of the local communities.  

The Department of Foreign Affairs also instructed Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga R. Umpa to work closely with Nigerian federal and state authorities in securing the release of the seafarers.   

Ambassador Umpa reported to the Department that he has dispatched Vice Consul Randy Arquiza and Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Officer Camalodin P. Manggis to Warri in Delta State, where the six Filipinos are being held, to assist in on-going efforts to secure their release. 

The six Filipinos, who were working aboard a cargo ship owned by Baco Liner GmbH, were abducted after the ship was hijacked near Warri in the morning of 20 January 2007. 

As in previous instances of this nature, Philippine authorities will work with the Nigerian government and the workers’ employer in effecting their release.  

The Department’s focus is on the safety and recovery of our seafarers at the soonest time possible. END

/jay

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