Two fishermen, identified as Antonio Sabino and Osorio Pires from Neves in São Tomé and Príncipe, were reportedly rescued in the Brass Council Area of Bayelsa State after being lost in the Atlantic Ocean for five days.
According to reports from Vanguard, the traumatized men, who speak Portuguese, were rescued by a fishing trawler in the Gulf of Guinea. They were then handed over to fishermen from Okpoama on the Atlantic coast of Brass, who took them ashore.
Chairman of the Okpoama Kingdom Security Committee, Chief Munalayefa William-Sinte, stated that the emaciated and weak-looking men were provided with clothing and food before being handed over to the police for necessary action.
Due to the language barrier, communication with the fishermen was challenging. Chief Sinte mentioned that they were able to calm the men using sign language before handing them over to the police.
In addition, Chief Sinte revealed that a fisherman from Ilaje in Ondo State, who resides in Okpoama, has been missing for over a week, prompting his colleagues to search the ocean for him.
According to a community source, in 2019, the bodies of two male fishermen in an advanced state of decomposition were found in a fishing boat that had drifted ashore in Okpoama from São Tomé and Príncipe.
SP Asinim Bustwat, the spokesperson of the state police command, confirmed the rescue. He stated that the Divisional Police Officer of Okpoama Division, Brass Local Government Area, has taken custody of the two fishermen. They were rescued by a captain of a fishing trawler approximately 50 nautical miles off the Atlantic Ocean on July 2, 2023.
The two fishermen, Antonio Sabino (52 years old) and Osorio Pires (41 years old), had been lost in the Atlantic Ocean for five days before their rescue. The police authorities have established contact with a coast guard officer from São Tomé and Príncipe and are actively working to reunite the fishermen with their families.
