Operatives of the Marine Department of Bayelsa State Police Command have foiled a kidnap attack on a passenger boat along Nembe-Brass waterways and rescued four passengers onboard.
The boat was said to have been hijacked by the hoodlums in the middle of the sea.
Police spokesman in Bayelsa State, SP Asinim Butswat, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday, said operatives on surveillance on the route subdued the pirates and rescued the passengers from being taken to the creeks.
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The Nembe-Brass coastal route has been notorious for pirates attacks and kidnapping of innocent citizens plying the route for their various business.
Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State is one of the areas that is yet to be linked to Yenagoa, the state capital, and other parts of state state by road.
The state government recently began the construction of road to the area to curtail the incessant attacks on the citizens by sea pirates.
Butswat said, “On 17 August 2022, at about 1730 hours, operatives of the Marine Department of the Bayelsa State Police Command, while on patrol along the Nembe- Brass waterways came under attack by sea pirates who were robbing passengers and attempting to kidnap some of them in a speed boat named Tari Marine 2.
“The operatives repelled the attack, subdued the pirates by their superior firepower and rescued the passengers.
“The pirates ran to a nearby creek and escaped with bullets wounds. They abandoned their speedboat, with one military camouflage, one bullet proof jacket and one cutlass.
“The Commissioner of Police Bayelsa State Command, CP Ben Nebolisa Okolo fdc, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department to carry out a discreet investigation to unravel the identity of the sea pirates.”
