The Gulf of Guinea, off the West African coastline, is probably the world’s most dangerous sea route. No one knows this better than second officer Boris Oyebanji who, over the course of two weeks, was hijacked and kidnapped by pirates — and then accused of being a pirate himself. This is his story.Gideon Osanebi, captain of the MV Charis, has been sailing the high seas for 32 years — longer than his second officer, Boris Oyebanji, has been alive.
He ordered Oyebanji onto the bridge but there was no sign of the captain or the chief officer — or whoever was supposed to be on watch. Oyebanji assumed they had hidden in the toilet. There were other armed men on the bridge, also dressed in black. Pirates. They were looking for money. Oyebanji boarded the speedboat, which set course for the Blue Marlin. Along the way, the pirates — he counted seven in total — performed rituals he had never seen before, and which appeared to exert an almost mystical effect over them.
Frustrated, the pirates ordered Oyebanji to make an announcement on the ship’s public address system. With a shaky voice, he began: “Crew members, come out of your hiding place or you will be killed if you are found.” Later, he would learn about what the pirates did next. They returned to the Charis, because that was about as far as they could go. Their speedboat was riddled with bullets and was taking on water. They ordered Osanebi to set sail for Calabar and mended their speedboat. But they never made it to the Nigerian port city. After being intercepted by an Equatorial Guinean naval ship, the pirates boarded their speedboat, detached it from the Charis and fled.
Troops from the Serviola then boarded the Blue Marlin. In April they had successfully freed a Nigerian-flagged vessel that was attacked by pirates in the same waters. This time they found no pirates and the crew came out of the citadel unharmed. The Spanish forces left that afternoon, while the five troops from Equatorial Guinea’s navy remained on board until the Blue Marlin could be towed safely to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, for repairs.
Their names were recorded and they were paraded in front of the waiting media before they were led to a van. The crew of 10 were accused of attempting to hijack the Blue Marlin. “I was thinking, ‘Why would they want to lock us up for no reason? We were also victims here’.” His family also came to mind. “I was thinking about my parents especially. Being their only son, I cannot afford to die in prison or out at sea.”
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