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1000 days in captivity, the seafarer’s nightmare
In his quest for greener pastures and fend for his family, a young seafarer Jewel Ahiable left the shores of Ghana with huge hopes of turning his fortune around for the better.
Aboard MV Iceberg 1 ship, the then 31-year-old Jewel Ahiable was beaming with confidence for brighter days ahead and a chance to make things better for himself and his family.
Unknown for him, was the most terrifying, harrowing, dreadful and torturous 1000 days of his life and that of his crew ahead of them, in the middle of the sea, filled with sorrow, grief and regret with no hope in sight.
What was supposed to be a smooth sail, became a nightmare, when six months into a 10-month contract with Azal Shipping and Cargo, LLC, Dubai, on March 2010, Jewel and 23 other crew members were hijacked by Somali pirates and held captive for 1000 days, one of the longest held piracy victims.
Jewel is a marine electrical engineer, who studied at the Regional Maritime University (RMU) in 2003 then Maritime Academy and purposed to work onboard a ship. He secured his first ship in 2006, had the first experience as a seafarer and returned home safely after three months.
Jewel then joined the second ship in 2008 and worked for a year before returning home in 2009 after another successful sail.
Later in 2009 he moved on to a new company for better remuneration-the MV Iceberg 1 ship and graciously departed Ghana on September 29, 2009 to Oman.
The journey started smoothly as they moved from one country to the other with their last voyage taking them from Dubai to the Port of Eden in Yemen.
They had left very late on March 28, 2010 and arrived the following day, March 29 at 7:45am when Jewel was about having breakfast, only to hear the emergency alarm ring.
Just when they were about to find out the reason for the alarm, bullets started flying in the air into the ship and eventually they were hijacked and captured by Somali pirates, taken hostage to Somalia for a ransom to be paid before their release.
They eventually arrived at Somalia in four days where the torturous, two years, one month (1000 days) ordeal began.
During the period, the vessel ran aground, food, water, medical supplies all finished, causing the death of a crew member who was initially dumped into a deep freezer and later thrown into the sea while another member went missing.
“We went on hijack attempts of two ships but was unsuccessful, the United Nations (UN) came in at a point and wanted to take the body of the dead colleague but the pirates did not agree and rather threw the body into the sea,” he narrated.
“We continued to suffer and endured difficult moments. We were beaten, stabbed and one of our Chief Engineers’ ear was cut into pieces and isolated for a year to suffer excruciating pain,” he added.
At the point the crew felt abandoned and forsaken as all attempts to get rescued proved futile and they practically gave up in life because there seem to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
The hijackers were only obsessed with their quest to amass fortune and deafened their ears to the cry of the innocent humans.
That was until December 10, 2012 when they heard another shooting towards the ship and this time, for rescue purposes. The rescue by Puntland Maritime Police Force from Somalia lasted for 13 days as the pirates would not give up easily. The police eventually managed to take the pirates away, evacuate the 22 remaining ‘victims’ who stepped foot on ground for the first time in 1000 days.
“It was a very difficult time for my family as it took them three months to hear that I was hijacked. They went around for help and God protected us all,” he stated.
Painfully, he also lost the love of his life to another man during the period since there was no communication. “We came back on December 23, 2012 and she got married in February 2013. I lost her contact so she moved on,” he said. Jewel is however currently married with two children.
The near-death experience for Jewel during the captivity had become a learning curve for many seafarers as he managed to come out with a book titled ‘Hijacked! 1000 Days’ Harrowing Experience in the Hands of Somali Pirates’ to not only narrate his ordeal but recommend solutions.
The 44-year-old has also become a resource person to maritime institutions with one of his recent endeavours-a presentation at the ongoing Support for West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS) training in maritime affairs and security at the RMU.
He advised participants to be guided by their instincts before embarking on a journey, take their training seriously while calling for drills on every ship on how to escape such attacks.
Unfortunately, after the ordeal, the survivor’s salaries were not paid by the company while the government of Ghana, though promised to pay compensations to them, had since not reached out despite several attempts.
By Michael D. Abayateye
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
