By Desire Emmanuel
It was sheer Divine Grace and quick arrival of men of the Nigerian Navy that saved eleven passengers inside a speedboat from untimely death after its engine failed midstream and water began to enter.
The Navy announced the incident in a statement on Thursday night, as it added that the near-death incident occurred on Tuesday along the Bonny River.
It was gathered that the boat, which departed Nembe Waterside Jetty in Port Harcourt enroute Coal Beach Jetty in Bonny Island, developed engine failure midstream and began taking in water near the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne, Rivers State.
However, the swift response of the Forward Operating Base Bonny patrol team, under heavy rainfall, prevented what could have been a major tragedy.
The rescued passengers—six males and five females—were safely taken to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Jetty for medical checks and subsequently handed over to the Marine Police who contacted their family members.
In another development, the Navy said it destroyed many Illegal refining sites in four different locations on Wednesday, 5 November 2025.
First, personnel of Forward Operating Base Escravos deactivated two illegal refining sites at Obodo Omadino Community in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, while the Nigerian Navy Ship PATHFINDER patrol team uncovered and deactivated an illegal refining site containing three cooking ovens, six reservoirs, sacks, jerry cans, and dugout pits filled with stolen crude oil and illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil around the Bakana and Isaka general areas of Rivers State.
Similarly, Forward Operating Base Bonny personnel dismantled an active illegal refining site at Eyamba Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, and the Nigerian Navy Ship DELTA patrol team deactivated another site at Opumani Creek in Warri South Local Government Area, Delta State.
