Two fishermen – Antonio Sabino and Osorio Pires – from Neves in Saô Tomē and Principe lost in the Atlantic Ocean for five days have been rescued in Brass Council Area of Bayelsa State, south-south Nigeria.
The fishermen were said to have been rescued by a trawler fishing in the Gulf of Guinea and handed over to fishermen from Okpoama-Brass who took them ashore.
They speak Portuguese, the official language of Sao Tome and Principe.
The fishermen have been handed over to the Divisional Police Officer, Okpoama Division of the Nigeria Police Force, CSP Ebimiesigha Bebetu.
Chairman of the 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 further action.
He said the fishermen who were visibly worried were calmed with sign language before they were handed over to the police as it was impossible to communicate with them because of the language barrier.
Chief Sinte also informed our reporter that a fisherman from Ilaje in Ondo State who was resident in Okpoama had been missing for over a week, adding that his colleagues had been searching the ocean for days.
In 2019, the bodies of two fishermen at an advanced stage of decomposition were found in a fishing boat that drifted ashore in Okpoama from Saọ̄ Tomē and Principe.
Confirming the development, state police spokesman, SP Asinim Butswat said, “The police authorities have established contact with a coast guard officer from Saô Tomē and Principe and are making a concerted effort to reunite them with their family.”
Sao Tome and Principe is an island country of Central Africa, located on the Equator in the Gulf of Guinea.
It consists of two main islands—São Tomé and Príncipe—and several rocky islets, including Rôlas, south of São Tomé island, and Caroço, Pedras, and Tinhosas, south of Príncipe, according to Britannica.
The country’s closest neighbours are Gabon and Equatorial Guinea on the Atlantic coast of central Africa.