Two fishermen, Antonio Sabino, 52, and Osorio Pires, 41, from Neves in SaôTome and Principe lost in the Atlantic Ocean for five days have been rescued in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The fishermen, who speak Portuguese, were said to have been rescued by a fishing trawler in the Gulf of Guinea and handed over to fishermen from Okpoama-Brass who took them ashore.
The fishermen have been handed over to the Divisional Police Officer, Okpoama Division of the Nigeria Police Force, CSP Ebimiesigha Bebetu.
Chairman, Okpoama Kingdom Security Committee, Chief Munalayefa William-Sinte, said the highly malnourished men were clothed and fed before they were handed over to the police for necessary actions.
He said the fishermen who were visibly worried were calmed with sign language before they were handed over to the police as language barrier made it impossible to communicate with them.
Chief Sinte said a fisherman from Ilaje in Ondo State but resident in Okpoama had been missing for over a week, adding that his colleagues had been searching the ocean for days.
In 2019, bodies of two male fishermen at an advanced stage of decomposition were found in a fishing boat that drifted ashore in Okpoama from Sa?¯ Tome and Principe.
The police authorities in Bayelsa State confirmed the rescue and said concerted effort was being made to reunite the rescued foreigners with their families.
Spokesman for the police command, Asinim Butswat, said they were rescued by the Captain of a fishing trawler at 50 nautical miles off the Atlantic Ocean on July 2, adding that they were at sea for five days before they were rescued.
Butswat said the police authorities had established contact with a Coast Guard Officer from Saô Tome and Principe in a bid to reunite them with their families.