No fewer than 19 passengers have been attacked by sea pirates along the Bakassi waterways in Cross River State.
Narrating his experience on the
incident, which happened penultimate Friday, the driver of the boat, Mr.
Effiom Bassey, described it as horrifying.
“On
that Friday around 9am, I was leaving for Cameroon but not quite long
after we had left Ikang, headquarters of Bakassi Local Government Area,
we saw one flying boat coming. I initially thought it was a passenger
boat, but when I saw the flag I knew that they were sea pirates.
“They blocked me and pointed guns at me
asking me to fall into the water, which I did, and they took over my
flying boat. After ransacking all the passengers and raping some few
female travellers, they went away with all the goods in the boat.
“They dislodged the 19 passengers I
carried. They went away with my big boat. The goods they took away along
with the boat are estimated to be around N40m.”
A 24-year-old fish trader, Enoh Ubon,
who was among the victims, said passengers have lost so many valuables
to sea pirates in the last few months.
Ubon confirmed that two female traders
were raped during the encounter by the robbers, adding that she was,
however, spared because she was on her monthly menstrual cycle.
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