There was apprehension on Monday along the Nembe-Brass waterways in Bayelsa State as Sea pirates attacked and dispossess the occupants of a passenger boat.
The pirates it was gathered, rode on a speedboat, shooting sporadically into the air forcing the boat to stop sailing.
The gunmen who were said to have raided the boat at Obama Rice Farm, an area located between Brass and Nembe and dispossessed passengers of their valuables thereby causing panic among other boats operators and traders as they temporarily stopped movement of goods and passengers along the waterways.
A security source, who would not want his name mentioned on print, said traders on the attacked boats lost their valuables to the bandits including their mobile phones, money, jewelry and other valuables.
No life however was lost in the incident.
According to the source, “The attack only created fears among travelers and traders and stopped movement of boats along the waterways. The passengers of the attacked boats even refused to embark on their journey again. It took the intervention of a patrol boat of the Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, to convince them to begin their journey again.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, confirmed the incident saying that immediately they got wind of the incident, he deployed gunboats in the affected area.
Opara said the police were alerted of the incident by members of the maritime union even as he hinted that the gunboats were combing the creeks to locate the whereabouts of the pirates.
