An unnamed Nigerian has been charged by authorities in Denmark for his participation in a deadly shootout between the Danish Navy and pirates in the Gulf of Guinea in November 2021.

According to Barron’s, an American weekly newspaper, the 39-year-old who lost a leg in the gun battle faces up to eight years in jail if found guilty.

Danish authorities said four other pirates were killed and one more went overboard during the incident. The Danish Navy was said to be on an anti-piracy patrol in international waters off West Africa when the face-off ensued.

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According to the Maritime Information Cooperation and Awareness Centre, the Gulf of Guinea, a hotspot for piracy, witnessed 52 attacks in 2021.

After the incident, four additional pirates accused of attacking Danish patrol team were arrested in the tropical part of the Atlantic Ocean. Three of them were later freed while the fourth was detained and taken to Ghana where his leg was amputated owing to a gunshot wound. He was later transferred to Denmark to face an attempted manslaughter charge.

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The Danish Justice Ministry said they did not feel it was possible to safely release him at sea the way his counterparts were released.