Nigerian separatists also known as the Biafra's have hijacked a merchant ship and threatened to blow it up with its foreign crew if authorities do not release a detained leader agitating for a breakaway state of Biafra.
Nigerian defence spokesman Major General Rabe Abubakar said the hijacking occurred on Friday. Other officers say the navy is in pursuit.
There are indications the separatists in the south-east are working with some Niger Delta oil militants in southern Nigeria, escalating conflict in a country already burdened by a deadly north-eastern uprising by Boko Haram.
Secret police detained Biafran separatist Nnamdi Kanu on October 17, accusing him of terrorism. His cause sparked a 1960s civil war that killed a million people.
