The Bayelsa State Police Command on Monday said that it has established contact with a coastguard officer from Saô Tomē and Principe and are making a concerted to connect
Antonio Sabino and Osorio Pires
to connect them back to their families.
Recall that two Sao Tome and Principe fishermen identified as Antonio Sabino and Osorio Pires from Neves town, were on Sunday rescued in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State five days after they got lost in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Police however confirmed that the fishermen were rescued some 50 nautical miles off the Atlantic Ocean on July 2, 2023.
A statement issued by the spokesman for the command, Asinim Butswat, on Monday, said the Divisional Police Officer, Okpoama Division, took custody of them.
The statement “The two fishermen, Antonio Sabino ‘m’ 52 years and Osorio Pires ‘m’ 41 years from Neves in Saô Tomē and Principe got lost in the Atlantic Ocean for five days before being rescued by a Captain of a fishing trawler.
The Portuguese-speaking fishermen were said to have been rescued by a trawler fishing in the Gulf of Guinea and handed over to some fishermen from Okpoama-Brass who ferried them ashore.
They were thereafter taken to the Okpoama Divisional Police Headquarters and received by the officer in charge, Ebimiesigha Bebetu.
The Chairman of Okpoama Kingdom Security Committee, Munalayefa William-Sinte said the fishermen looked malnourished but they were fed and clothed before handover to the police.
According to him, the fishermen were visibly afraid but were assured of their safety with sign language.
William-Sinte also said that a fisherman from Ilaje in Ondo State but a resident in Okpoama had been missing for over a week, adding that his colleagues have been searching the ocean for him for days now.
