The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday assured the families of the families of the seven Filipinos taken by armed men off the coast of Nigeria on Saturday that the government is taking the necessary measures in coordination with Nigerian and Swiss authorities to ensure their safe release.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the country’s embassies in Abuja, Nigeria and Berne in Switzerland have been instructed to get additional information on the condition and whereabouts of the seven Filipino crew members of the Swiss-owned MV Glarus.
“I have also directed the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs to notify and extend the necessary assistance to the families in the Philippines of the seven Filipino seafarers,” Cayetano said, when sought for an update on the situation of the seven Filipinos.
Citing reports provided by Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Shirley Ho Vicario, the DFA chief said the seven were among 12 of 19 crew members who were taken by gunmen as the vessel was making its way to Port Harcourt from Lagos.
Cayetano said the gunmen left five other Filipinos and two foreign nationals on board the vessel as they fled the area.
It was not the first time that Filipino seafarers were abducted in Nigerian waters.
In October last year, four Filipino crew members of a German container vessel were also abducted by gunmen as the vessel neared a port in the Niger Delta.
The Philippines supplies 20 percent of the world’s 1.2 million seafarers manning oil tankers, cruise ships and passenger vessels.