One person was killed in an attack by pirates along the Brass waterways in Nigeria's oil- rich Bayelsa State, local police said Friday.
Police spokesperson Fidelis Odunna identified the dead as Sun Ebi, captain of the ill-fated boat, who was attacked along with other passengers on board the ferry on Thursday evening. The boat was carrying no foreigner, but local people, when the incident occurred, he noted. "The boat driver was discovered missing after the attack only for his corpse to be found floating on the river," he said, declining to give further details of the incident.
Also confirming the incident, Magnus Angel, chairman of the local Maritime Workers Union (MWU) in the area, said the boat was traveling from Yenagoa, capital of the southern state of Bayelsa, to Brass, a coastal community, when the armed pirates attacked it. "And in the confusion that followed, passengers jumped into the water, while the pirates ransacked their belongings," he explained.
Angel said, after the pirates left, the passengers resurfaced from the waters to continue their journey. According to him, the deceased captain was found to be missing after passengers called out to him for the journey to continue.
The senior maritime worker said another boat was attacked by pirates along the Ogbolomabiri area of Nembe waterways on the same day. But no casualties were recorded in the second attack, he added.
He called on government to save the indigenes of the coastal communities of the state from the recurrent sea pirates' attack, noting it was the duty of the authorities to take proactive ways of ensuring the safety of lives of the people who ply the waterways of the state on daily basis.
Piracy and armed robbery in Nigerian waterways have been increasing in recent years, attracting concerns from the international community.