Two fishermen, 52 year old Antonio Sabino and 41 year old Osorio Pires from Neves in SaôTomē and Principe lost in the Atlantic Ocean for five days have been rescued in Brass Council Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
The fishermen who speak Portuguese were said to have been rescued by a trawler fishing in the Gulf of Guinea and handed over to fishermen from Okpoama-Brass who took them ashore.
The two fishermen have been handed over to the Divisional Police Officer, Okpoama Division of the Nigeria Police Force, Ebimiesigha Bebetu.
Chairman of the Okpoama Kingdom Security Committee, Chief Munalayefa William-Sinte said the men who look malnourished were clothed and fed before they were handed over to the police for necessary action.
He said the fishermen who were visibly worried were calmed with sign language before they were handed over to the police as it was impossible to communicate with them because of the language barrier.
Chief Sinte also told Journalists that a fisherman from Ilaje in Ondo State but resident in Okpoama has been missing for over a week, adding that his colleagues have been searching the ocean for days.
In 2019, bodies of two male fishermen at advanced stage decomposition were found in a fishing boat that drifted ashore in Okpoama from Saọ̄ Tomē and Principe.
Spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat when contacted confirmed the development.
Butswat explained in a statement that the Divisional Police Officer of Okpoama Division, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State has taken custody of the two fishermen who were rescued by a Captain of a fishing trawler at 50 nautical miles off the Atlantic ocean, on July 2, 2023.
He said the Police authorities had established contact with a coast guard officer from Saô Tomē and Principe and are making concerted effort to reunite them with their family.
