In what appears to have been a desecration of sacred ethos, it has now been discovered that the local cargo boat that came under attack by a yet-to-be-identified military helicopter was carrying a coffin amongst other goods.

It was discovered that some of the items in the boat had blood stains and bullet holes on them.

The coffin, which owner was yet unknown, was amongst the contents of the cargo when Kristina Reports’ Security Correspondent, Susan Pepple visited the Coal Beach jetty in Bonny where the boat was detained by the Marine Police, Bonny.

Among the items were bags of garri (cassava flakes), beans, rice, and cement; plastic plumbing pipes, cartons of drinks, crates of eggs, buckets of paint, amongst others.

The incident, which occurred at about 1pm near Dutch Island fishing settlement in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State along the Bonny River about 5 nautical miles from the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne, has caused national uproar since the news hit the public space on Thursday, August 26, 2021.

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Two persons were injured from the attack but were rushed to a medical facility in Okrika where they received treatment.

One of them, Awwal Rufai told Kristina Reports that the chopper, which from their observation was a military plane, circled around them thrice before firing at them.

The second victim, Paul Jacob, who corroborated the account of Rufai, also told Kristina Reports that one of the military personnel was dropped via a rope from the helicopter into the boat and later pulled back up into the chopper.

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According to him, after pulling back their colleague, the chopper flew away only to return and drop to about 500 meters above sea level before firing at the cargo boat.

When contacted, the Group Public Relations Officer (GPRO) of the 115 Special Operations Group, Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Port Harcourt, Ola Abdulrazak promised to make some enquiries and revert. But 10 hours later, he was yet to respond or take his calls.

On his part, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Rivers State Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nnamdi Omoni said he does not have the clearance of the military authorities to speak on a military related matter.

A military communications expert, who preferred anonymity, explained the dilemma of the military authorities to speak on the issue, pointing out that “you know they cannot deny that the incident happened because already the victims have spoken out and the matter is already in the public domain”.

Time To Find Helicopter That Shot At Unarmed Civilians On Bonny River

“On the other hand, should they admit that it happened, heads will roll, the military service implicated will bear the consequences of what has happened, the owner of the boat and the victims will have to be compensated, and the perpetrators of the act will have to face military justice.”

He further informed that the principle of vicarious responsibility will also come into play as the direct superiors of the soldiers who perpetrated the act will also face the music for not providing the right leadership and coordination for their subordinates involved in the unfortunate act.

The security expert noted that these are scenarios that have made it difficult for the military authorities to make any statement on the issue but asserted that keeping silent over the issue was bad publicity for the entire Nigerian military as the incident has cast it as a threat to the safety of lives and properties of the citizens.

 A bystander at the Coal Beach, Bonny, who does want to be named, complained to Kristina Reports that it was sacrilegious for the military to shoot at a coffin.

“What did the person they want to bury with the coffin do to the Nigerian military, whether the Air Force, Army or Navy? Why would they be shooting at a coffin? That is an abomination. When they arrest those who did this thing they should be brought to Bonny to cleanse the land.”