Over 50 Ghanaian Fishermen Feared Kidnapped in Pirate Attack off Senya Breku

• Some Ghanaian fishermen are feared to have been taken hostage after a pirate attack off Senya Breku in the Awutu Senya West District
• Armed assailants reportedly opened fire and made away with outboard motors and generators, leaving their victims stranded at sea
• The Ghana Navy and Marine Police have launched an urgent operation to rescue the fishermen and apprehend the group of pirates

Over 50 Ghanaian fishermen are feared to have been taken hostage in a pirate attack off Senya Breku in the Awutu Senya West District of the Central Region of Ghana.

The incident occurred after the fishermen were attacked at sea by armed hijackers who allegedly opened fire and made away with their outboard motors and generators.

The victims reportedly set out to fish in the early hours of Thursday, February 26, 2026.

However, while on their way back to shore, the Ghanaian fishermen reportedly encountered the assailants, who were on a black boat.

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The supposed pirates launched an attack, leaving the victims helpless in the water.

The Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya West, Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, confirmed the incident in an interview with Citi News.

“There was an armed attack at sea. Our fishermen usually go out at night and return early in the morning. Those who went toward the Nyanyano side were reportedly attacked.

“They were robbed of their outboard motors and generator sets by occupants of a black boat. I cannot disclose the nationality of the attackers. Investigations are ongoing,” she added.

She disclosed that personnel from the Ghana Navy and the Marine Police had been deployed to hunt down the perpetrators.

“The military and the IGP have also dispatched a Marine Police unit to assist. So the Navy is helping, and the Marine Police are also assisting us,” she stated.

Read the Instagram post below:

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Fish farm vandalised amid resource dispute

Elsewhere in the Volta Region, a large-scale fish farm, owned and managed by Chinese nationals in Bakpa-Kebenu, Central Tongu, was stormed and vandalised by angry local youth a few weeks ago.

The incident is understood to be a protest against the company's operations, which locals claim are negatively affecting their traditional fishing activities in the River Volta.

Eyewitnesses reported a rapid escalation of the demonstration, with protesters breaching the facility and damaging machinery before security personnel or local authorities could intervene.

The situation has since stabilised and is being closely monitored to prevent further clashes, with the Chinese operators reportedly back at work.

The protest highlights long-standing friction between local fishermen and large commercial aquaculture operations over vital resources and access to fishing grounds.

Abraham Aho, the Assembly Member for Bakpa-Kebenu, shed light on the underlying issues and the challenges in communicating with the farm's management.

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“As an assembly member, when I go there at times, [the management] would keep me at the gate until I leave. So, I don’t want to talk about their matter, and I don’t want to ask them about the incident because they don’t listen,” Aho said.

Dzodze herdsmen defy eviction

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported that Fulani herdsmen in Dzodze had defied the eviction deadline issued to them and stayed put, grazing their cattle in the area they had been asked to vacate.

The district coordinator disputed the deadline date, saying September 30 had been the set cut-off, with local authorities fearing that violence might erupt if the evacuation failed to be carried out.

Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh