Hello every one.
It's a privilege to participate in this contest. Thanks @futurethinker for the platform.
This one of the events in my life that I remember each time I'm to travel on sea.
On several occasions I've journeyed to and from Bonny via the PortHarcourt-Bonny local jetty with a speed boat and had no issues. Yes no issues even as over 80% of the times the boats aren't sound and won't arrive the destination as scheduled because the boat operator would have to fix something on the engine while you're on sea, that was a norm, and was nothing to panic so much about even though you can't swim, you were sure you'll get home safe. Well that will be a topic for next time.
I've heard stories of sea pirates, watched videos about them and I never prayed for an encounter.
18, August 2016 was a very dark Thursday to me.
I was to leave Port Harcourt (PH) to Bonny the previous evening after shopping for a new smart phone and computer accessories for me and my cousin. But I didn't want to take the risk of traveling at night, bedsides I had to pick a package for my office use by 9:00am the next morning. Now I have reasons to stay over till the next morning.
At about 9:30am, the next day I was done with all I had to do in PH. 15 minutes later, I was at the jetty to board a boat to Bonny. It was the ibanise boat that was to leave next. I was supposed to feel relaxed as this was about the safest boat on this route, but no, I was so unease. Maybe it was because of my new smart phone, I didn't want it to fall into the water, so I connected the head phone and docked the phone in my back pack which was now sitting on my lap.
Few minutes later the boat sailed off. Sitting comfortably in the boat listening to music from my phone, I didn't notice when the captain of the boat went into the creek just to cut the distance of the journey and save time.
All boat operators plying this route were warned against taking the creeks by the security agency, the Joint Task Force (JTF).
Few minutes into the creek, there they were, the dreaded sea pirates. They've just finished with a boat ahead of us and made away with their valuables and the captain.
They pirates hearing the sound of our boat afar off, pretended to be a regular commercial boat on sea, they passed us and made a U turn behind us.
Their boat was smaller than ours and the engine was very sound besides their were only 5 of them including the captain from the other boat whom they took with them so that he won't go and raise an alarm. After much efforts by our boat operator to out run them, we couldn't. They took charge of our boat, changed course into the mangrove. There they took our money, other valuables and also took three persons hostage one of which was the man sitting besides me.
I can't still recall all of the prayers I made to God that moment for my life to be speared as they threatened to shoot us all and dump us there.
When they were done, they left the boat operator from the other boat with us and and made away with most of our valuables including my new phone and all that was in my back pack. We managed to get out of the mangrove and make our way to the main sea until we got to Bonny.
That is one experience I'll never pray for anyone to encounter. Thanks for the opportunity to shear this @futurethinker
