About 11 corpses were said to have been discovered in an abandoned boat in Jerusalem Creek, near Ke Clan in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The victims were suspected to have been killed by pirates operating along the waterways in the area.
The bodies, according to a source, were discovered on Sunday, December 1, 2019, by some security personnel, who were on patrol along the waterways.
One AK-47 rifle was said to have been recovered from the boat, but the corpses had yet to be identified as of the time of filing this report.
NAN learnt from a security source that a group of suspected pirates, who were close to the boat where the corpses were seen, fled the scene immediately the security personnel began to advance towards them.
“on Sunday, December 1, 2019, in the afternoon, government security agents, on search operations at Jerusalem Creek in Ke community, had an encounter with suspected pirates operating in two speedboats and towing another from a distance.
“During the encounter, the pirates abandoned the tow boat and fled into a nearby creek. Further search by the security men on the abandoned boat revealed 11 dead bodies and one AK47 rifle.
“It was reported that the incident was a suspected case of attack on seafarers and local community members at the New Jerusalem waterside about an hour earlier,” the source said.
Also, the president of Bakana Community Development Association, Iloye Braide, said the corpses could be those of criminals.
He said, “Two days ago, there was a confrontation between the Navy and some bad boys in Ke area of Degema Local Government Area that resulted in an exchange of gunfire and the Navy managed to shoot and kill 11 of the bad boys.
“Even today another confrontation would have happened when operatives in a surveillance boat from Bille were provoked but decided not to engage the boys in a battle.”
When contacted, the state police public relations officer, Nnamdi Omoni, simply said the report was not verifiable.
