Navy foils pirates’ attack in Rivers, rescues 20 passengers

The Nigerian Navy in the Bonny area of Rivers State has announced it rescued about 20 passengers, including women and children after it averted a pirates’ attack on Port Harcourt to Bonny sea route.
  
Confirming the incident, a Navy Captain and Commander of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base (NNFOB) in Bonny, Maksum Mohammed, said the feat was recorded following an Intelligence tipoff.
  
He disclosed that the Navy has also uncovered new tactics pirates use to abduct passengers.  He said the intelligence suggested that some boat operators might be working with the pirates to stage attacks. He said that the boat operators would load fully, get to the entrance of a river on the water highway, fake engine problems, and pirates would attack and evacuate the passengers into the creeks, demanding ransom.
  
According to him, the latest incident showed a boat loaded with 20 passengers, including children, which almost turned scary.  The task team Commander said the team was conducting an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission of the general area between the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne, and Dawes Island in Okrika Local Council when it came in contact with an outboard-powered engine speedboat, which was stranded on the sea.