Sea pirates on Monday created apprehension along the Nembe-Brass waterways in Bayelsa State after they ambushed a passenger boat.
It was learnt that the pirates, who rode on a speedboat, were said to have shot sporadically into the air and forced the boat to stop sailing.
The gunmen were said to have raided the boat at Obama Rice Farm, an area located between Brass and Nembe and dispossessed passengers of their valuables.
Sea pirates on Monday created apprehension along the Nembe-Brass waterways in Bayelsa State after they ambushed a passenger boat.
It was learnt that the pirates, who rode on a speedboat, were said to have shot sporadically into the air and forced the boat to stop sailing.
The gunmen were said to have raided the boat at Obama Rice Farm, an area located between Brass and Nembe and dispossessed passengers of their valuables.
It was further learnt that the incident created panic among other boats and traders as they temporarily stopped movement of goods and passengers along the waterways.
A security source, who pleaded anonymity, said traders on the attacked boats lost their valuables to the bandits.
The source said the gunmen dispossessed their victims of their mobile phones, money, jewelry and other valuables.
The source said no life was lost in the incident.
The source said, “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.
He said 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.
The commissioner said the gunboats were combing the creeks to locate the whereabouts of the pirates.
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