Speaker A
Now my area. [Music] My area. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] These men are the pirates of the 20th century. Armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers, they attack the oil plants in Nigeria to kidnap expatriates.
An in-depth investigation into Nigerian piracy, focusing on kidnappings in the Niger Delta and their impact on the oil industry and local communities.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Piracy in Nigeria is driven by economic inequality and perceived exploitation by multinational oil companies.
- Despite military efforts, piracy has increased, with gangs becoming more violent and organized.
- Kidnapping expatriates is a lucrative business, significantly impacting the oil industry financially and operationally.
- Corruption within Nigerian military and authorities enables pirates to operate with relative impunity.
- Understanding and engaging with pirates is complex but essential for addressing the root causes of piracy.
What the video covers
- The video explores the rise of piracy in Nigeria's Niger Delta, where armed gangs kidnap expatriates working in the oil industry.
- John Togo, a notorious pirate leader, was killed but piracy has since intensified with multiple violent gangs operating.
- Pirates target oil companies like Shell, Chevron, and Total, accusing them of exploiting Nigeria's resources without benefiting locals.
- The Niger Delta suffers extreme poverty despite Nigeria being Africa's largest oil producer and an OPEC member.
- The filmmaker gains rare access to pirate gangs through intermediaries, highlighting the dangers and complexities of such encounters.
- Pirates use speedboats and heavy weapons to hijack ships and oil platforms, demanding large ransoms.
- The video shows the pirates’ motivations, including economic desperation and resistance against perceived corruption and exploitation.
- Interviews reveal the brutal realities of piracy, including violence, torture, and the complicity or corruption within Nigerian military forces.
- The investigation includes insights from a French lecturer specializing in criminal risk management, emphasizing piracy’s impact on global business.
- The documentary concludes that piracy in Nigeria is a growing, systemic problem fueled by poverty, corruption, and weak state control.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Nigerian Pirates and Kidnappings
- 02:14Death of John Togo and Rise of Piracy
- 04:09Economic Context and Impact on Oil Industry
- 05:50Meeting the Pirates: Risks and Negotiations
- 07:50Pirate Operations and Hostage Taking
- 09:45Insights from Criminal Risk Lecturer
- 11:51Return to the Delta and Encounter with Pirate Leader
- 15:22Pirates’ Lifestyle, Beliefs, and Business Model
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
The leader is John Togo, the most wanted man in the country. [Applause] [Applause] Kidnapping makes these pirates hundreds of thousands of dollars. They attack the oil companies, who they accuse of plundering the wealth of their country without paying anything back to the
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people. What do you target? My target is fellow stations, pipelines, the jackets, NMPC, Shell, H High Sean.
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They are my targets. Why? Why? Because they are the people setting the commotion in Niger Delta.
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Why do you say that? They are not sincere. They don't give what belongs to us.
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They collaborated with our evil leaders. So you're ready to die for your cause?
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God has sent me to justify the people of Niger Delta. Therefore, I will not die.
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I will live. I rejoice with them. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. These are the last images of John Togo.
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Ten days after we left, the rebel leader and a dozen of his men were killed in an army attack. His death didn't end piracy in Nigeria. On the contrary, it has exploded since then.
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A dozen ultraviolent pirate gangs spread terror in the Niger Delta. Using powerful speedboats, they storm oil platforms throughout the region, kidnapping and ransoming.
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How much do you think you could get if you would kidnap me from you? At least 50 million naira.
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These pirates are the nightmare of the oil industry, causing them to lose dozens of millions of dollars each month.
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[Music] [Music] Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, a booming city where new building developments grow like mushrooms.
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Nigeria is the biggest economic power in Africa but is also a country of extremes.
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Absolute poverty stands next to the biggest wealth on the continent. A fortune that is built on the country's black gold. Nigeria is the El Dorado of African oil.
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All the big companies are there like Shell, Chevron, Total, and AIP. With a production of 2 million barrels per day, Nigeria is the sixth biggest exporter of OPEC. Its GDP is $574 billion.
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This business employs thousands of expatriates, rich pickings for the pirates. In 2015, they carried out 73 attacks and kidnapped 62 people.
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The aim of my trip is to meet a gang of pirates. We arrive at Wari, the main city in the delta. Here 70% of the population live on less than a dollar per day. The life expectancy is 47 years.
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So here I am in the city of Wari in the middle of the Niger Delta. We're driving quite fast because Wari is well known for high rates of criminality and a lot of abductions.
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That's why I have an escort vehicle in front with three armed soldiers on board.
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They're here to stop me getting kidnapped by groups who specialize in this activity in a city where this is unfortunately commonplace.
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May you press our press blows. In the center, the armed men who accompanied me get out of the vehicle.
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They chase off curious passersby with their whips. Once we found a safe spot, I call my contact, a former guerrilla. He's my go-between with the pirates.
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[Music] After months of dealings, a group agrees to meet me, but there's no chance of going with my escort.
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[Music] The meeting is arranged by the river. [Music] I need to go with these men to meet the gang. They warned me that the army mustn't see me in pirate territory.
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What can be the reaction of the army if they see me with a camera here on the river?
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Ah, big problem. Very, very big problem. What can they do to me? It might be a get arrest. They might arrest you. Put you somewhere.
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[Music] After two hours of navigating the labyrinth of the delta, we finally see them.
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[Music] A dozen men armed with machine guns. This group of pirates not only takes hostages, they take whole boats. Last year, how many attacks did you do? Of course, last year, of course, I extract no less, no less than 15 attacks
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because we were not pleased. And sometimes do you hijack the ship to get money?
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Yes, sometimes because we have nowhere to start from. Sometimes we hijack the ships to get money.
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Usually, how much is it to release a ship? Uh, depends on the ship. We can even say 200 million, bring 900 million for... And when you keep the members of the crews, you keep them on the ship, on the
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boat or you sir? I've tried for you. End of interview. The leader doesn't want to give me any more details on the taking of hostages.
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[Music] The pirates are unpredictable. [Applause] It takes several weeks before another gang will let me talk to them.
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They are also heavily armed. They travel on high-speed boats, which allows them to escape the army and to rush at the oil rigs they attack.
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Their leader is renowned for his violence. He's aggressive and points his gun at me, refusing an interview at the last minute. The pirate doesn't trust us and disappears into the mangrove with his men.
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[Music] Back in France at EDIC, a prestigious business school. [Music] I am not a journalist but a lecturer.
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Here I teach management of criminal risk. My pupils are future business leaders. I have to prepare them to deal with terrorism, cybercrime, and piracy.
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That's an AK-47, a machine gun. But it's enough to stop an oil tanker. Because when you shoot at a boat which is carrying oil, even with that, believe me, it stops.
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What's the risk? Explosion. An oil tanker which explodes makes for a very big firework.
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For 10 years, I regularly go into the field to meet those involved in organized crime.
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Did you hear less than 15? Last year, we carried out no less, no less than 15 attacks. He doesn't get up for less than $100,000.
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15 attacks, $100,000. Good business, right? So, that's piracy. Low cost and astronomical returns. And above all, it has a major impact on the oil industry.
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Getting in contact with the pirates and getting them to talk is a long and complex process. In the last 10 years, I've been to Nigeria 20 times.
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Over there, I've built up a network of contacts who keep me informed of any attacks and of the positions of pirates in the Delta. I'm back here today because I've picked up the tracks of the gang leader that I couldn't interview.
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I decide to try my luck again. Okay, I'm going into the Delta in a speedboat to meet the leader of the group of pirates that I saw a few months ago who apparently will talk to me. So, I'm going to try and see if it happens.
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The problems could come from army patrols, the JTF, which are incessant at the moment, especially in the area he's in.
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We're going to try not to get stopped, which hopefully is possible. [Music] Two hours later, we're following a speedboat which has come to guide us because we have to get around the patrols and checkpoints which are everywhere.
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There they've stopped. So I don't think it will be long. Okay. We arrive at the camp.
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There's the leader. He's still aggressive. Get down quick. Get down. Okay. Okay. Get down.
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Yeah. Down. I blew your head off. Okay. Careful not to fall. They're pretty wound up. And he keeps pointing his gun at me. It's not very pleasant.
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It's okay. Apparently, I can go. Move, move, move, move, move, move ahead. Move, move, move, move.
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Move. Come this way. Quick. Where are you? What is your mission here, my friend?
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Talk to me before I... I just want to talk to you. Calm down, please.
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Do I want to talk to me? How? I want to ask questions. Questions? Yes. Just a few questions. Okay.
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Okay. Yeah, that machete was close. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Come down then. I just want to talk, questions.
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Don't, don't, don't be scared. Don't be scared about me. I'm not scared.
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I just want to ask you a few questions if you don't mind.
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Okay. Come inside. It's okay. Come inside. What? Inside. Yes. Yes. The pirates drink a cocktail of gin and they think the mix wards off bad spirits.
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Okay, okay, okay, okay. I got it all on camera. Once sprayed with the mixture, I'm allowed to go behind this so-called protective curtain.
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Can I sit? Oh, sit. Now,
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Yes. Okay, sit there. Sit. Can you tell me who you are? This is Black Devil Alias Akru Omega 5.
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How many guys do you have with you? I have 45 men on ground. They are not all with you this time?
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No, no. I sent some for operation. Which operation? operation for any expatriate kidnapping at the sea.
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Okay. How does it work when you do an attack? I use normal speed boat. This like 200 two speed boat attack and we come to our camp.
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How many guys do you have aboard the the speed boat when you do attack?
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Seven per boat plus the driver seven men. How do you choose your targets when you do an attack? my target. It depends on the kind of security over the ship.
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Do you know before if there is security aboard the your target or not? Before you get there, the security means they will open fire on you.
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Okay. Yeah. Before you come closer, they open fire. It happens often that they open fire.
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Yes. And so what do you do when they open fire? Me too. I ask my boys to open fire. So sometimes you have casualties.
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Yes. How many men did you did you uh lose so far? Just one man for the past five six years I have operated just just lost one man.
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Okay. And so sometimes you kill soldiers. Yes sure. How many how many people belonging to the security did you kill?
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The soldiers I killed are accountable. Maybe 20 men are on the boat. Maybe I kill three, kill five. I take their guns. That is the part of my job.
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So once you have uh once you have opened the fire m you go uh on board.
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I I seize fire and I climb. You climb? Yes. Go straight to the engine room and the captain.
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The captain? I will ask the captain to come down. How much do you have on board?
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I have 1 million. I have 3 million. Okay. Give me. If you don't want to release the money, sorry for you. You go to hell. Japan blow off your head.
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Do you target specific nationalities? Yes, like those Indians. We don't go to go for Indians because they are very cheap people like the Filipinos. No, very cheap. We target people like you. I know if I I kidnap you, I will get much money for
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myself. How much do you think you could get if you kidnap me? from you at least 50 50 million naira.
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Which are the most bankable hostages you target? Americans and French. How is the ransom paid? How will you get the cash?
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I will direct you where to drop them. I don't use bank just street. Okay. Take the money to so so point. My men are there to collect the money. Don't go with army. Don't contact the police. If you do every But we are watching you. If
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you make any move, we kill your man. Yeah. Okay. What what what do you do with this money?
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The money I used to buy ammunitions and speed boots and the rest to take care of our families because we don't have job. That is why we are doing this dirty job. You come to exploit it here and you don't want
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employee. That is why that is the major reason why we are doing this. You don't want to employ us and you are exploiting from us.
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You have children. I have five children. Two are in the university and I don't have job. How do I train them? How do I feed them? How do I pay my house rent? Anybody, any expatriate companies are coming to operate here. If
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he doesn't settle with us, he won't operate. I swear to God, the black devils are always stand by.
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Are you okay? It's okay. [Music] They've caught a monkey. That's their kitchen apparently. Okay.
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So, now I'm on the group leader boat who's finally agreed to talk to me.
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We're going to a spot that he thinks is safer because there are many army patrols.
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So, we're not going to hang around and stay too long in this area and hope they stay in those positions.
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[Music] [Applause] [Music] The pirates come from little villages in the delta communities like these.
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Thousands of people live here in poverty and unsanitary conditions. [Music] No, no toilet, no shank, no water. Then we are feeling hungry.
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Okay. Here there are no doctors, no medication. Is he sick? This old man is treating himself with vitamin C.
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Nearby, the oil company Agip operates a drilling plant. None of the villages work there. Come in. Come in. Come in.
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Okay. I met by the community chief. You're welcome, sir. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.
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All right. How many people in the in the room now? 50 at least huh?
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I believe I'm more than 50. What are the conditions of living uh of the of the community?
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First of all, if I may say that we have a oil company here but I believe we have no benefit from there. So up to now we have no employment nothing. They do not employ anybody of the community
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at all on on this plant Egyp plant close to here. Yes, we only fishing.
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So you do fishing? Yes, we do fishing. But after years back and up to this hour, there are lesser fishes in the river.
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Yes. Because of due to this oil spillage or here and there in the river.
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What do you think about uh this uh this uh this people doing maritime piracy?
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What what is your opinion about this? It's due to joblessness. Let me say formally they do intimidate us that we are not going to school. You don't have tickets. But thank God that many of us here are graduates. Some are
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undergraduates. But after your years in school, you came going back home now you don't have any work to do. What do you think come to your mind and you cannot go to the river and go fishing any longer again.
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So if you have any way to go then you go and do paracy. If you die from there where it is the will of God, let it be.
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So joblessness lead to this pirates. In Nigeria, expatriots live under constant threat from pirates.
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Oil companies have to invest massively in security to protect them. Exceptionally, I'm allowed to film the security measures in place on an oil platform.
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[Music] The platform is 150 km from the coast. 160 expatriots work on board. To ensure their safety, two boats like this one are constantly circling it.
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On board around 20 Nigerian naval fuseliers work under a Frenchman's command. Julian is a former commando in the special forces. He has to remain anonymous. We're out at sea and the risk of attacks is very present.
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His team is made up of different nationalities, often from emerging countries, the only ones who will accept such dangerous work. The captain is Mexican.
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I was attacked before in the sister vessel from this ship, this Jascon 24. When did it happen?
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Uh 20 23 of January this uh years. One of the navy was uh died.
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They shoot a lot when they attack. Yes. Did you tell about the attack to your family?
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Yes. How many children do you have? Three. And your wife, what what does he say?
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What what does she say about your job now? Uh she she told me that the not like to come back to Nigeria. The salary is better, but finally I decide to come back here. Yeah.
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The best weapon against the pirates is the Utai. This entirely armored boat. When running at full speed, it can follow their speedboats and break them in half.
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Julia invites me on board. Day and night, the Utai patrols around the rig. What caliber of weapon can the armor on this boat withstand?
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Results means deaths. The pirates mostly attack at night, so this is the most critical time.
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Detect [Music] speedboat. [Music] That night, there's no attack. These security measures cost up to 15% of an oil platform's budget.
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For this rig, it's $1 million per month. [Music] But in this country, the oil industry faces even more costly acts by predators. 20% of the oil that it extracts in the delta is stolen by thousands of traffickers. This piracy
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has a name, bunkering. This pipeline belongs to Shell. It's where one of thousands of pipelines that run through the delta surfaces.
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Traffickers connect to it to pump off the oil. It's then stored in these boats which serve as makeshift tankers.
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What is inside? This is a crude oil. This this is this is fixed to the main well.
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Yes. From that that very well you are seeing. The oil is then pumped to be refined into fuel, diesel and kerosene.
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So here we are in a quite big illegal refinery in the delta. There are a dozen bunkeras, traffickers working in this refinery which has six units like this one, each with a surface area around the size of a football stadium.
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[Music] The vapors from the burning oil are unbearable. I have trouble breathing. This man is going to explain how he makes diesel from the crude oil stolen from the pipelines. He sets a fire under a ton of crude oil.
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Yo, this is the way we are we used to start it. And this will keep on heating the the tank within 2 3 4 hours it will result [Music] and with smokes engroll [Music] from the other residues of the crude
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oil. It evaporates and travels through this tank of cold water then through several meters of pipes to retake its liquid form. At the other end, diesel flows. In total, 300,000 barrels are hijacked like this each day. Apparel industry that is extremely dangerous for
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these men. With their feet in petrol and clothing that is soaked with flammable vapors, they are frequently victims of explosions.
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A few weeks later, one of these workers died. The other disaster is ecological. Here's the effects this has on nature.
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You get the feeling that these trees have been burned, but in fact, not at all. It's the oil vapors that kill them.
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And of course, all this runs into the river. And there are refineries like this one along several kilometers of the river.
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At night, these illegal refineries are easy to spot. However, the military turns a blind eye.
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[Music] The question we have to ask is how is it possible that these groups can travel to see up to 30 40 boats in an area which has a high density of Nigerian army units.
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The answer is simple. Corruption. According to the NGO Transparency International, Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It holds the 136th place out of 168 countries that the organization monitors.
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In Berlin, at the NGO's headquarters, the director for Africa explains that corruption affects all of society, right up to the highest levels of state.
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[Music] When a country reaches this level of systemic corruption, Unfortunately, it is not surprising to see that the Nigerian army, the Nigerian military authorities can be corrupted by the pirates to let them work in complete freedom.
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corruption allows pirates to anesthetize these security forces by injecting a strong anesthetic, the dollar.
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[Music] For 2 years, the price of oil has been falling. In this context, the cost of piracy has become unbearable for the oil companies. Some have started to leave Nigeria.
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In East Africa, in Somalia, pirates threaten a cornerstone of the world economy, shipping. Today, 80% of goods are transported by ship.
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Somalia is located on a strategic shipping route, linking Europe to Asia. 18,000 ships pass through here each year. In 10 years, Somalian pirates have attacked more than 300 ships and kidnapped 700 sailors.
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[Music] These pirates approached the vessel on fishing boats. Armed with Kalashnikovs, they hijack the boats and take the sailors hostage.
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After 25 years of civil war, Somalia is no longer one nation. In the south, Islamic al-Shabaab militia close to al-Qaeda are gaining ground. In the north, the territory is divided into feudal strongholds controlled by tribal chiefs. The region of Galmoduk is a hot
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spot for piracy. Many attacks leave from the village of Hobio on the coast. Going there is not without risk as you first need to go through Galao.
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The last two foreigners who came to Galao before me were a French man and a British man aged 35 to 40. They both worked for the United Nations. They had come to Somalia apparently to work on piracy. They got off the plane and had
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hardly set foot on the ground when they were both killed in a hail of Kalashnikov bullets.
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[Applause] After 3 years of negotiations with local authorities, I arrive in Galo. [Music] It's impossible to come here without being invited. On the tarmac, I am met by the vice governor of the region. For my protection, he has deployed a militia
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of 38 men armed with kalashnikovs and heavy artillery. In this region, a westerner can be kidnapped or killed in just a few minutes.
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My convoy heads towards the Somalian coast. The road is long and dangerous. The journey will take 8 hours.
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We are currently heading from Galao to Hobio. Hobio is one of the places where piracy is most rife in Somalia.
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I'm going to try and understand the roots of piracy locally and see what happens and maybe meet some people who are part of the problem.
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So, we have 250 km of trails which are pretty chaotic. We should arrive in Hobio in the early morning.
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To keep going, the men chew cat, the local equivalent of cocoa leaves. In the early morning, the phone rings.
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The vice governor has received some bad news. We've reached Hobio pretty quickly because the group I'm with has received information that there's a boat heading to Hobio at the moment.
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It may be a boat that has just been hijacked and is being taken to the Hobio coast.
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What do you suspect? It can be anything. It can be broken boat or it can be a hijacked boat.
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Ah, okay. My convoy speeds up to reach Hobio as quickly as possible. We arrive at the top of the village.
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From here we can see what is happening on the coast. A cargo ship has stopped 300 m from the beach. It's an Iranian boat. It has been attacked and brought to the shore in the night.
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I see jeeps with armed men. Without a doubt, the pirates. At the same moment, a fishing boat heads towards the cargo.
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10 minutes later, it comes back to shore. Hostages are surely on board. The vice governor sends his men onto the beach.
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[Music] [Music] So, the boat has been hijacked. It's confirmed. It's an act of piracy.
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I'm going to the beach a few hundred meters from the boat in a pickup belonging to the government's militia.
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The men are a bit on edge. [Music] Okay, so we're going into the village of Hobio. It looks pretty quiet. There are children in the streets, but 200 meters away, there's an act of piracy happening now.
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So, we arrive on the beach and the boats on the left. [Music] The governor's soldiers spread out on the beach, but they don't attack the pirates, even though they are only a few hundred m away.
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I recognize their pickup straight away. They belong to Afwen, the legendary Somalian pirates gang. It's him who in 2008 captured the Cyrus Star, the biggest oil tanker in the world, as well as the Fina, a Ukrainian cargo ship
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transporting Russian tanks and tons of Kalashnikovs. In 2013, Afwen officially announced he was retiring.
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I see that his men carried on the business. Against all expectations, the pirates pickups leave peacefully with the hostages without being stopped by the governor's men. Instead, the soldiers stop the local fishermen, the pirates foot soldiers.
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They come to transport the hostages. In their boat, a grapple hook, an essential tool for boarding a ship. Initially, these fishermen say they are victims of the pirates.
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How many pirates? It was uh the red car. Yes, the red car. And so how many hostages did they take?
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Two. The captain and the chief engineer. And so they have forced you to go on the boat. They forc him to What colors were the hostages?
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They look like They look like Arabists. Have they been violented? The hostages? Yes. The vice governor doesn't believe the fisherman's version. He orders his men to arrest him.
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[Music] The fisherman isn't afraid of the soldiers. On the contrary, he even threatens them. So the guy with the shirt seeing they hold ships so we cannot go.
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The fisherman claims it is his right to help the pirates. To my great surprise, the governor's men leave him alone.
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A few minutes later, the fishermen go back to work as if nothing had happened.
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The same afternoon, the governor summons the leader of the pirates, the man behind the taking of hostages, to his house. Here he is.
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[Music] It's not a time for confrontation, but for discussion. From the start, the pirate claims his gang has the power on the Hobio beach.
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I have only heaven. I have The talks last 4 hours and it's the pirates who have the upper hand.
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Finally, the man behind the kidnapping leaves without being worried. This scene explains everything about Somalian piracy. The authorities have no power on the pirates territories.
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Two weeks later, the ship owner pays a ransom of $1.5 million to get back the cargo ship and the hostages.
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For me, it's time to leave Hobio. As a westerner, I'm also prey. We leave the fisherman's village under close escort.
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So, here we are on the trail between Hobio and Galao, returning to Galao a bit earlier than planned.
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We left Hobio this morning in a bit of a rush because I'd been seen by the pirates and their leader.
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So, it was unwise as a foreigner, especially French, to stay in Hobio. In Somalia, hostages can remain imprisoned for years.
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The next day at Kokao airport, I'm witness to a rare event, the release of hostages.
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[Music] They arrive in 4x4s. 11 sailors, the crew of a Malaysian cargo ship which had been hijacked by pirates a few years ago.
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Can you explain what happened to you please? Uh 26th November 20110 our ship got by the Somalian pirates in the Indian Ocean.
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Their demands was 20 million. After that they threatened the honor. You cannot increase money then we we will shoot at the crew. Then honor no effort to increase the money and they one Indian nation they shoot at his just three
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bullet. Then they hit us and they torture us. Cry your family and tell them bring us money otherwise we will kill you.
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And how long was the detention in total for you? Three and a half year we stay in the Somalia. Thank God I am alive and hopefully I will be go in my country.
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A plane from the UN arrives on the tarmac. Two envoys from the organization have come to take the hostages home.
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Usually it is the shipping company or insurers who pay the ransom. But as they didn't want to, the United Nations took care of it.
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And finally, we have spoken on the phone many times. I'm very glad you are so glad to get you back. Thank you so much for all your effort. We will not forget your Did you fear to die?
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Torture time. How did they torture you? What did they do to you to torture you?
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They tie my hand. They hit the They hang me by leg and they pressure me for many times.
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In total, five hostages died during their detention. Okay, we need to separate from the day isn't over. Exceptionally, I witness another hostage release a few hours later.
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Three Kenyans, two men and a woman, kidnapped in the bush while working for an NGO. Barely 6 hours ago, this man was tied to a tree where he has spent the last 2 years.
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It's okay. We were kept under a tree. That is our shelter. It's wilderness, plain land.
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which is sandy. So, and there's too much air. When there's too much wind, the sand blow at night, you you have to expect snakes and scorpions and spiders, giant spiders.
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And and and the people don't care. [Applause] The people don't care. They weren't being held on the moon.
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They were held in the vicinity of the village in the desert, not in the houses. But there were people around.
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The people there don't care about the hostages. Why? Because they know that it's a business. They know that those hostages are going to bring money in and the villages will be able to live from that. Piracy is the economy in these
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regions. We have to understand that. But equally, this piracy quite simply is threatening a pillar of the world economy because these people are based on this strategic axis of communication in the Indian Ocean.
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At piracy's height in January 2011, the Somalians held 32 merchant boats and 736 hostages.
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For the ship owners, the financial consequences of these kidnappings are disastrous. In Paris, I meet with the director of the organization representing French shipping.
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International. [Music] [Music] Faced with the scale of these attacks, the European Union has reacted by creating in 2008 the Atalant Fos, the first European Navy force.
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Warships, planes, and helicopters patrol an area that is 1 and a half times the size of Europe. As well as the European forces, the area is patrolled by ships from NATO, but also a fleet of warships from Russia, India, China, and Colombia
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amongst others. In 8 years, attacks by pirates have been practically blocked. The operation is a success, but it has a price. $300 million per year for the European taxpayer. A necessary expenditure for as long as the problem cannot be resolved at source.
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[Music] So when we talk about piracy, we can think that at its origins there are the economic motivation of the pirates to earn money and this economic motivation can only be satisfied When certain political conditions come together, corruption, weakness of the state.
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[Music] In a world where lawless areas are increasing and the power of states is decreasing, piracy has a future.
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Already there are attacks in South America and especially in Asia where 161 acts of piracy were committed in 2015.
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So it's there I'll need to go to follow the dangerous evolution of this criminal business.
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Topics:Nigerian piracyNiger Deltakidnappingoil industryJohn Togopirate gangsexploitationcorruptionorganized crimeoil companies
