'We wept throughout’- Seven Ngyiresia fishermen recount 12 days of terror at sea

Seven fishermen from Ngyiresia, near Sekondi, have recounted a terrifying 12-day ordeal adrift at sea after their canoe’s outboard motor failed, carrying them from Ghanaian waters past Togo and into Benin before they were rescued and reunited with their families.

Stephen Quansah, also known as Kwabena Awil, said the crew’s first desperate memory was the silence of nearby vessels.

“Ships weren’t responding to our distress calls. We wept throughout,” he said.

“But we didn’t give up.”

Mr Quansah was among seven fishermen who left Axim in the Western Region on October 9, 2026, for what was expected to be a routine fishing expedition.

Instead, their outboard motor broke down at sea, leaving them at the mercy of winds and currents. They were rescued by local fishers in Benin’s territorial waters on October 21 and reunited with their families on October 23.

Besides Mr Quansah, the crew comprised Kobena Kum, Uncle Amoah, Kwasi Emmanuel, Kwame Abedu, Kwamena Komfo and Kwamena Akyem.

Out of the storm, and horrific encounter

With the engine dead and distress calls unanswered, the men struggled to steer clear of an approaching storm.

“We manoeuvred to get out of the storm, then we got in touch with a vessel,” Mr Quansah recalled.

But the encounter brought no relief. According to him, those aboard the vessel urged the fishermen to leave the area immediately, describing it as dangerous and claiming that people there were cannibals.

“Within a split second, they weren’t there anymore,” he said.

“It was getting darker too.”

Night was closing in when, Mr Quansah said, the crew faced the most frightening moment of the ordeal.

“Suddenly, a huge dark figure rose above us,” he said.

“By the time we realised, we’ve been carried back into the deep sea.”

He did not identify the figure, and his account could not be independently verified. What is clear, however, is that the men spent days drifting with the currents, moving from Ghanaian waters through Togo and eventually into Benin.

Prayers and lights on the horizon

As the canoe drifted along the coastline, the crew turned to prayer.

“We were praying relentlessly. Later we realised we’ve been drifted into Togo waters,” Mr Awil said.

“We could see lights at the shore.”

“At sunrise, that was out of sight. We’ve been carried away again by the currents,” he added.

Mr Quansah said despair weighed heavily on the crew throughout the ordeal.

“We were terrified. My team was heartbroken,” he said.

“I was the only one keeping the faith with prayers, trusting that we will be rescued.”

A mobile signal, a call home

The drift continued until the canoe crossed into Benin’s territorial waters, where the crew finally picked up a mobile-phone signal.

“It was at that moment we got a mobile signal to place a call home, leading to our rescue,” Mr Awil said.

The call, the crew’s first contact with their manager since leaving Axim, reached Francis Akesse onshore at about 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20.

According to official reports, local fishermen in Benin rescued all seven men on Wednesday, October 21, less than 24 hours after the call.

The rescue involved cooperation among the navies of Ghana, Togo and Benin, alongside local Beninese fishers.

Two days later, on Friday, October 23, the crew reunited with their families after nearly two weeks of uncertainty at sea.