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After throwing the flash grenade, Akin took advantage of the confusion created by the blinding light and noise. Using his training as a special ops soldier, he rolled on the floor to avoid the shrapnel and quickly regained his footing. Without hesitation, he grabbed his bag and sprinted toward the staircase.
As he descended the steps two at a time, he could hear the sounds of pursuit behind him. His heart racing, he knew he didn't have much time. At the bottom of the stairs, Akin burst through the door leading outside.
He found himself facing a landscape courtyard surrounded by high walls. Looking to his right, he spotted a maintenance shed with a metal door.
He slammed the door behind him, quickly locking it. It was then that he noticed a small gash on his chest from the flash grenade. Gasping for air and profusely dripping with sweat, Akin passed out collapsing onto a pile of rags in the corner.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnb5E3yg3eM
For several minutes, he lay still, listening intently for any signs of the authorities. When he felt confident enough, he pulled out his device and began to study the map of the surrounding area.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcWYKYPdR4
After careful consideration, Akin decided to head northwest. He reasoned that the dense forest and hilly terrain would provide better cover than the city, which was likely swarming with law enforcement officers searching for him.
Using back roads and trails, Akin managed to make it back to the outskirts of his home village before dawn.
Exhausted yet determined, he approached the house where he had grown up. With trembling feet, he yelled his mother's name through the door opening. He felt immense relief when his mother, Rose, had recognized his voice immediately and let him in without question.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Akin broke down emotionally. Tears and blood staining her blouse as he embraced her tightly.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aGT78lFhn
For months, Akin remained hidden away in his childhood home, living off-grid and avoiding all contact with the outside world. However, after receiving word that the authorities were closing in on his location.
He knew it was time to leave once more. Traveling only at night and sticking to little known discreet unpopulated areas, Akin had eventually settled in a small coastal town several hundred kilometers south of Lago.
Eventually, Akin ran across a small band of pirates who were out to capture any cargo freighters they could get their hands on. Their leader was a Nigerian man named, Abaeze.
Akin asked if he could join them explaining that he desperately needed some money and he could supply his own weapons. After some heated disscussion, the leader agreed. So, one morning the small band of pirates including Akins sailed off to find a ship using their radar.
They also had inside information from a high Nigerian official they had bribed, that an Eastern bound American cargo freighter named, S.S Kensington would soon be passing through their area off the western coast.
INT - American Freighter
[Captain Siker is sitting in the control room when suddenly his ship's radar picks up an unknown vessel approaching fast.
Siker: (speaks into radio) This is the S.S Kensington to navy vessel, Blacketh Fire. We're being hailed by an unknown vessel. Request permission to engage with anti144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCqw1LIECj
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piracy tactics.
"Copy"
Yes, this is captain Hammond, of the destroyer, Blacketh Fire. What is their distance from you? Do you think it might be a fishing vessel?
Siker: "About a quarter mile and closing quite fast captain." And no sir, 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwzh0JMy6m
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it definitely isn't a fishing vessel because I can see their AK 47 rifles through my binoculars.
Pirate skiff: (over radio) S.S Kensington, you are instructed to stop engines and prepare for boarding. Any resistance will be met with violence.
Siker: (to his team) "Get ready, looks like we got ourselves some pirates."
Mark Jackson, the second mate on the S.S Kensington was asleep when the announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Pirates are now approaching." The Kensington was in the Indian Ocean, about one thousand miles from the eastern coast of Africa.
Mark Jackson was of Irish orgin. He had become a second mate on the ship, by starting in an entry-level position as a deckhand on the vessel with a merchant mariner credential (MMC).
He typically worked more than a thousand hours and eventually obtained his Transportation Workers Identification Credential and became eligible for an officer position. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsybuHMHWgD
As a second mate, excellent hand-eye coordination, physical strength, and mechanical skills are vital to this role.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ996QdKPChc
Jackson ran up a narrow stairwell to the bridge, where most of the ship's twenty five man crew had already gathered. Captain Siker pointed to port. They could just make out a distant silhouette on top of the waves: an open-bow skiff with armed men approaching.
The captain directed the steersman to maneuver the ship in a zigzag pattern. He called the engine room and ordered full steam ahead but the cargo ship on its way to Somolia, was old and sluggish. It was the morning of December 12/2019.
The cargo ship Kensington was west of Sri Lanka, closer to India than to Nigeria but Nigerian pirates were known to travel broadly.
..........
Maritime Anti-Piracy Laws:
The Water Cannon:144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhpDdbLUoi
The Water cannon is a non-lethal weapon which is extensively used on merchant's vessels. As a proven anti-piracy method, the device delivers a powerful and almost impenetrable stream of water that blows away pirates trying to board the ship.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVMKE02XG2
The cannon can also quickly fill the pirates' boats to slow them down and hinder their maneuverability.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52u9LgV8yX
Most of the water cannon anti-piracy systems can be remotely controlled from a safe position on ships.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oJyELRcet
Electric Secure Fence:144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuRW2O7sBy
The Electric fence is a non-lethal system consisting of an electric fence which can surround the ship and prevents pirates from climbing. The system is a collapsible fence which can be folded and kept safe when not in use.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXBVcJU8FE
Desperate Measures144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iGtU4rHTg
Captain Siker and his valiant crew had deployed both tactics but they fail to stop the pirates from boarding the ship. The captain ordered everyone off the bridge, and Mike Jackson the second mate, led the crewmen to the engine room. They heard heavy gunfire and glass exploding above their heads. By then, the pirate skiff was just a few hundred yards away.
On board were seven men wearing T-shirts and sarongs and armed with A-K 47s. He knew that some commercial cargo crews had deterred hijackings by spraying assailants with fire hoses, among other tactics, but obviously, it didn't work in this case.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMFYBveQo5
Soon, they heard a voice ordering them to the bridge. So, Mike Jackson and his crew members went back up the stairwell.
Captain Siker jumped out from behind the wheel house and grabbed his life jacket. He ran to the deck, where he saw several other crew members armed with fire hoses, flares, and anything else they could find to fend off the pirates. He joined them and aimed a hose at the approaching skiff.
Siker: "Come on, you bastards! You picked the wrong ship to mess with!"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBghCyv3QO
The pirates fired back with their rifles, but the water pressure from the hoses made it hard for them to aim. Some of them ducked behind their wooden shields, while others tried to throw grappling hooks onto the Kensington's railings.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7FEhnmuE8
Hammond: (over radio) "Kensington, this is Blacketh Fire. We're on our way to assist you. ETA 10 minutes. Hold on."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUW3wC7Z4j4
Jackson: "Roger that, Blacketh Fire. We're doing our best."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqMLdnfelr
The pirates were getting closer, and Siker could see their faces. They looked angry and desperate, some of them wearing bandanas and sunglasses. He had to wonder what made them turn to life of piracy, and what they would do if they boarded the ship.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UJOet02dX
Captain Siker: "Hey, Jackson! Do we have any weapons on board?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuV5xN4i5w
Jackson: "Only a few pistols and shotguns in the cabin. But we can't use them unless we have permission from the navy."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbk5G2UYNuU
Siker: "Permission? Screw that! These guys are trying to kill us!"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0srHhgOX5
Jackson: "I know, I know. But we have to follow the rules. Otherwise, we could get in trouble with the law."144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWXNBJ88AR
Captain Siker: "What law? There's no law out here!"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigceCrfeuw
He was about to say more, when he saw a flash of light from the pirate skiff. A rocket-propelled grenade flew towards the Kensington, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSupyyAEMd
Siker: "Oh shit!"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGM6qsag6C
He ducked as the grenade hit the side of the ship, causing a huge explosion. He felt a blast of heat and debris hit his face, and he fell to the ground. He heard screams and shouts from his fellow crew members, some of them wounded or dead.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEeuN7yFyq
Siker: (coughing) "Jackson! Jackson! Are you okay?"144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzKKHuF5xh
........144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQynMVnMNp
The pirates readied 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14z2ZDSTVw
a long ladder with hooks on one end, and hung it over the deck wall, climbing it easily. A angry pirate yelled and hit some of the crew members violently with the butt of his rifle, causing them to fall in pain to their knees.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvCXQ3u1wf
Suddenly, the door to the bridge slams open and seven armed Nigerian pirates storm in.
They aim their Ak-47 weapons at Captain Siker and his crew. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKkdT3qvNP
