Troops Storm Mutinied Ship

Troops stormed a cargo vessel and freed 28 foreign sailors held hostage by Nigerian crewmen who staged a mutiny to press for higher wages, officials said Saturday.

The hostages were unharmed, but the ship’s captain, Antonio Tabangora of the Philippines, said they had been given little food and could hardly stand up, according to the Philippines’ consul-general in Nigeria, Hermes Dorado.

The fate of the estimated 60 mutineers was not immediately clear. However, Dorado said talks with the mutineers were continuing over their demands for wages comparable to those earned by foreigners working in the oil industry.

The mutiny, which began Dec. 23, ended Friday night after attempts to persuade the mutineers to free the captives failed, and the Nigerian navy stormed the boat. The captives included 10 Filipinos, along with sailors from France, Britain, Lebanon, India and Nepal.

Disparate pay scales have long been a source of contention in Nigeria, where Western oil companies produce 1.89 million barrels of crude daily.

The Nigerians involved in the mutiny had demanded their wages be increased to about $6,000 per month, more than twice what they have been receiving.