Pirate gangs in Somalia are believed to be holding 5 Kenyans for ransom, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report issued on 20 October.
The brief reference to the Kenyan captives is included in an 18-page update on Somali piracy presented to the UN Security Council.
Mr. Ban does not, however, name the Kenyan hostages, nor does he explain the circumstances of their abduction.
The report notes that a Kenyan is the only Somali pirate hostage to have been freed so far in 2016.
That reference is to James Gachamba Kuria who was seized in November 2014, along with his partner Lois Njoki Weru, while delivering medicine in Somalia.
Mr. Kuria was freed as a result of a raid by Somali security forces last February on a village where the 2 Kenyans were being held. Sadly, Mr. Ban’s report states: “The Kenyan woman is still being held hostage.”
Dhows and foreign fishing vessels have become the main targets of Somali pirates in the past year, the report notes.
The Pirates are holding 39 seafarers from foreign-registered vessels as captives, including 26 from an Omani ship, 10 from an Iranian ship and 3 from a Yemeni vessel.
No seafarers from large commercial ships are currently being held by Somali pirates, says the UN leader’s report which covers the period ending September 30, 2016.
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