SaharaReporters learnt that the ship was wrecked but the personnel were rescued by a wooden boat and taken back to the naval dockyard on Lagos Island.
Some personnel of the Nigerian Navy in been involved in a patrol ship mishap on the Lagos Island in Lagos State, narrowly escaping being drowned.
SaharaReporters learnt that the ship was wrecked but the personnel were rescued by a wooden boat and taken back to the naval dockyard on Lagos Island.
Videos of the rescue have been shared since Monday afternoon, but the Nigerian Navy has yet to make an official release on the incident.
It is not yet clear if all the naval personnel were rescued or if anyone was injured in the shipping mishap.
From the videos, the ship was seen on fire, as some personnel in the background made desperate calls to have the victims rescued.
“See people for inside water. Go pack them, go pack them. Go, rescue them. Go rescue them,” an obviously terrified naval rating or officer shouted in the background.
Only on Sunday, a Nigerian Air Force Beechcraft KingAir B350i aircraft had crashed while returning to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after reporting an engine failure en route Minna.
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All the personnel on board died in the crash.
An investigative panel has been set up by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Oladayo Amao, to investigate the crash, whose members have visited the scene of the fatal aircraft crash to collect evidence for examination.
The seven NAF personnel in the ill-fated aircraft were on a mission to search for the abducted Kagara school pupils in Niger State on Sunday.
They were; Flight Lieutenant Haruna Gadzama, the Captain; Flight Lieutenant Henry Piyo, the Co-Pilot; Flying Officer Micheal Okpara, an Airborne Tactical Observation System Specialist; Warrant Officer Bassey Etim, ATOS Specialist; Flight Sergeant Olasunkanmi Olawunmi, ATOS Specialist; Sergeant Ugochukwu Oluka, ATOS Specialist; and Aircraftman Adewale Johnson (Onboard Technician).
"The aircraft was returning to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja after reporting engine failure en route to Minna, where it was scheduled to conduct surveillance missions over Niger State and its environs in connection with the concerted efforts to secure the release of the students/staff abducted from the Government Science College Kagara, Niger State.
"The Chief of the Air Staff instituted an investigative panel to determine the remote and immediate causes of the accident. The CAS visited the scene of the accident, in the company of the Honourable Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (retired); Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor, and other Service Chiefs," the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Ibikunle Daramola, had said on Sunday evening.