Pirates attacked a group of Ghanaian fishermen off the country’s coast on Thursday, stole their outboard motors and then left them stranded at sea, a lawmaker told AFP.The attack happened in the Gulf of Guinea, a major trade route, particularly for oil and gas, which has long been blighted by maritime insecurity.Joint efforts from coastal countries and European states have led to a reduction in attacks in the gulf, which stretches from Angola to Liberia and borders all of the major oil-producing countries in west Africa.But the latest incident demonstrated that the dangers still persist.Ghanaian MP Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui said the fishermen were targeted in the waters off her Awutu Senya West constituency as they returned from an overnight expedition.”Armed men opened fire and stole outboard motors and generator sets from seven canoes, leaving the fishermen stranded at sea.”The identities of the attackers were not known but they were said to have operated “a black boat”, she added.Ghana’s navy and air force mounted a search operation, which led to the “safe evacuation” of 71 fishermen, the military said in a statement.”Interviews from the fishermen rescued indicates that no Ghanaian fisherman has been kidnapped,” it added.Local television stations showed images of the men as they were brought ashore.One of them told Joy News that their attackers were Nigerian “because they spoke Nigerian pidgin”.The executive director of the Fisheries Commission, Benjamin Campion, told reporters the attack was not the first and said four boatloads of fishermen had been attacked off the coast of the Volta region several weeks ago.They were also left stranded at sea.The commission is now looking at giving fishermen security training, said Campion.Last month, nine sailors were kidnapped when a trawler was attacked off the Gabon coast. They were later rescued by the military.
