Tanker ship sinks 3 police gunboats, 5 others in Rivers | Ship captain, pilot arrested

Three police gunboats and five other boats sank in Port Harcourt in a mishap involving a tanker ship at the Abonnema Wharf in the Rivers State capital. The other affected boats are two Inland-Waterways boats and three exhibit boats at the jetty.

 Already, the Captain of the ship named ‘ABUJA’, identified by the police as Mr. Derek Osla, an Indian and the Nigerian pilot, Mr. Dickson Otubike were helping the state police command in its investigation of the accident.
 The tanker was said to have navigated dangerously at the Wharf and hit the nearby Nigeria Marine Police Jetty.

 In the process, the three gunboats, two of which were fitted with one Machine Gun (MG) and one GPMG, got ‘highly’ damaged and sank.
 Also, the two Inland-Waterways boats and three exhibit boats were damaged and sunk.
 Apparently sensing trouble, the tanker ship allegedly attempted an escape but was chased and arrested by a Marine Police team, led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police.

 Speaking on the incident, Police spokesman in the state, Mr. Benjamin Ugwuegbulam, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the arrest of the offending tanker.
 He said the Indian captain of the ship and its Nigerian pilot were later invited to the Marine Police Jetty and interviewed by the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state.
 The Police Public Relations Officer hinted also that full investigation of the incident by the State CID had commenced.