By Hauwa Ali
Danish frigate on patrol on patrol in the Gulf of Guinea 2021
The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding justice from the Danish authorities for the killing of Four Nigerian men who were shot and killed in an interdiction carried out by the Danish frigate HDMS ESBERN SNARE in the Gulf of Guinea in 2021.
In a case now being heard in the City Court of Copenhagen, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the Danish Navy of being honest over the matter, and is demanding the release of the injured man who was taken with the ship to Denmark for treatment to his injury in disguise.
The man subsequently had one leg amputated in Denmark and is now facing charges of piracy at sea.
Danish media quoted Nicholas Ella, a barrister acting on behalf of the Nigerian Foreign Ministry, as saying “We demand that Denmark release the remaining Nigerian in Danish custody. We demand an apology from Denmark to Nigeria for the frigate’s conduct. Moreover, we demand that Danish fleet personnel involved in the killings of Nigerians be prosecuted.
According to the Danish Navy the men in a fast moving boat were assumed to be pirates. They had been observed from a Danish Seahawk helicopter operating from the frigate which tracked the eight men in the boat moving among shipping in an area of the Gulf. They claimed to have seen weapons and other equipment normally associated with acts of piracy including ladders.
That evening the frigate drew near and despatched a group of its Frogmen Corps in RHIBS to intercept the assumed pirate boat. On approach they called on the men in the boat to advise them to stop their engines and allow the Danish soldiers to board the boat for inspection. After receiving no acknowledgement the Danish say they fired warning shots to which the men of the boat returned fire at the naval craft.
According to the official Danish Naval statement at the time, “The Danish soldiers then reacted in self-defense and responded to the fire from the pirates. After the firefight, the pirate ship sank. Eight pirates were taken aboard the frigate Esbern Snare, where one wounded man was treated for his injuries.”
It appears there were nine Nigerians on board the suspected pirate vessel. Four men were killed in the firefight, one shot in the leg and taken onboard the frigate along with three others, while one man was never found.
The action is said to have taken place 25 to 30 nautical miles south of Nigeria’s territorial waters.
At the end of October the Danish ship departed prematurely from patrols in the Gulf of Guinea to return to Denmark.
