A total of 10 Filipino sailors have been kidnapped by gunmen in two separate incidents off the Gulf of Guinea. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), two Filipino sailors and 11 other crew members were kidnapped when pirates boarded their vessel, a Liberian-flagged container ship, on October 27, GMA News reported.
On October 29, another eight Filipino sailors and nine other crew members were abducted after their vessel, a Panamanian-registered tanker, was seized by pirates.
The DFA said it is not clear whether the Filipinos were taken by the same group of pirates who abducted seven Filipinos in Nigeria last month.
In September, seven Filipinos and 12 crew members, who were on a Swiss-owned vessel making its way from Lagos to Port Harcourt in Nigeria, were abducted by armed men.
The DFA confirmed on Wednesday that all 12 crew members were released on Sunday and the seven Filipinos are now in Zurich, Switzerland, and will be flown to Manila.
Read: Kidnapped Filipino seamen released and to be flown home