Pirates attack 10 passenger boats in southern Nigeria

Gunmen suspected to be pirates on Monday attacked 10 passenger boats off Nigeria's Niger Delta Bayelsa State. The victims were dispossessed of their valuables by the gunmen along the Sagbatoru-Igweta-Iwoama waterways in the southern state's Nembe Local Government Area. A security source told Xinhua that a 26-year-old man was soaked with petrol by the bandits and was almost set ablaze for failing to hand over his mobile phone to them. The incident, which lasted more than one hour, affected guests and visitors heading to the burial ceremony of a woman whose son is a politician in the state. A victim, Efe Victory, said the armed men came in three speed boats and rounded up 10 passenger speed boats and diverted them to the creeks and started searching the passengers. The spokesman of the Bayelsa Police Command could not be reached for comments as he was said to be in a meeting with the new commissioner of police. Piracy and armed robbery in Nigerian waterways have been increasing in recent years, drawing the attention of the international community.