Navy, Others Rescue Sunk Boat At Bonny Waters …As Seven Get To Safety

The first set of survivors of the recent boat mishap along the Bonny River in Rivers State were rescued by a combined effort of local fishermen, a speedboat pilot and personnel of the Nigerian Navy who were the first to get to the spot where the boat sank.
The speedboat pilot, who said his name was Ajoh, had observed the distress of the sinking boat and its occupants and made a rush to salvage the situation.
The fishermen were out doing their fishing at the time between the Anchorage close to the Shell Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal and the NLNG gas loading jetty.
A security official, who preferred anonymity, told The Tide Metro that personnel of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base also joined the rescue efforts when they were alerted of the situation.
The official said,”Yes, our friends in the Navy said that at about 7.30pm on that fateful Monday, 8th of January, 2024, their attention was drawn to an incident of a collapsed local boat within the Bonny Anchorage close to the Shell Administrative Office.”
“Immediately, the base deployed two gunboats to the scene of the incident, where it was discovered that a boat conveying an unverified number of passengers had sunk.”
“Upon arrival, they observed that a local commercial boat driver had been called to help with the rescue and had so far recovered seven passengers from the water.”
He stated that though the passengers could not say what caused the boat mishap, the Navy personnel had to allow the recovered persons to be conveyed to Amariari Fishing Settlement in Finima Community.
Meanwhile, efforts by The Tide Metro to locate the speedboat pilot were unsuccessful as at the time of filing this report. Meanwhile, several persons have hailed the rescue efforts, describing the rescuers as “good Samaritans”, while others say they are “angels in human form”.
Residents gave knocks on the various emergency services, especially those responsible for manning the waterways for not coming to the rescue of the victims of the incident and, eyewitnesses say the Nigerian Navy distinguished itself by responding to the situation as quickly as they got wind of it.