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Oil and chemical tanker »Althini II«: Eleven-day voyage from Lagos in Nigeria to Las Palmas on Gran Canaria
Photo: Salvamento Maritimo / dpa
The Spanish coast guard says it has rescued three men who had entered the country on the rudder blade of a ship from Nigeria.
The three stowaways on the rudder of the oil and chemical tanker Althini II can be seen in a photo shared by the Coast Guard on Twitter on Monday.
According to Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking website, the Althini II arrived in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria on Monday after an 11-day voyage from Lagos, Nigeria.
The men were taken to the port and taken care of by health services, the Coast Guard said on Twitter.
The Canary Islands are a popular gateway for African migrants trying to reach Europe.
As the Spanish news agency EFE reports, this is not the first case of this kind.
As early as November 2020, three people were found at the rudder blade of the tanker "Ocean Princess II".
found, a month earlier three more on the tanker Champion Pula.
These ships are also said to have left Lagos in Nigeria.
Government can do little to counter violence
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is preparing for next year's presidential election.
Nigeria's population is divided into Muslims in the north and Christians in the south, as well as 300 ethnic groups.
Ethnic and religious violence has repeatedly flared up in the past.
In the north, the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram is primarily responsible for numerous kidnappings for ransom, but criminal gangs also repeatedly cause unrest there.
President Muhammadu Buhari's government can do little to counter the violence in the country.
The World Bank estimates that Nigeria's population will surpass that of the United States by 2050, reaching nearly 400 million people.
swe/reuters
