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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Gunmen suspected to be sea pirates, have kidnapped five persons along the Bonny-Onne waterways in Rivers State.
The victims were in a passenger boat with 18 persons onboard, and were reportedly attacked by fully armed gunmen, who took them (five) to unknown whereabouts.
A top official of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) confirmed the incident to journalists.
Chairman of MWUN, Bonny Unit, Henry Jumbo, who reacted to the incident, said he received a distress call concerning the attack on the passenger boat.
Jumbo said the boat had 18 passengers when the incident occurred, but five of the occupants were whisked away to an unknown area by the pirates.
According to him, the remaining passengers were recovered by a search team and brought to shore after a rescue operation, stressing that the repeated attacks on the waterways was worrisome.
He expressed: “I received information that one of our boats was attacked and they made away with about five passengers.
“This morning, we went with a search team and we got the remaining people. We are begging the government to come to our aid because the sea route for now is not safe the remaining passengers.
We are suffering. This is a big challenge for us.”
He added that the kidnappers were yet to make contact with the union and appealed to security agencies to deploy operatives along the Bonny-Onne waterways.
