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Just IN: Survivor of Rivers military helicopter shooting recounts ordeal

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One of the survivors of the military helicopter shooting on wooden cargo boat in the waterways in Bonny Island in Rivers State has recounted his ordeal.

Congress recalled that a military helicopter attacked a wooden local boat in Rivers State, killing and wounding of suspected persons on Thursday.

But one of the survivors of the attack, Awwal Rufai, a marine technician who specialized in fixing outboard engines, said the helicopter hovered around the area three times before it opened fire on the boat.

According to him, they were five occupants in the boat, which carried largely foodstuffs, when the incident occurred at about 2pm on Thursday.

Rufai, who identified two other occupants of the boat as Paul Jacob and Hadi Abdul said three of them sustained various degrees of injuries from the attack.

Narrating his ordeal, he said: “Normally, we leave Port Harcourt by 10am. On our way coming back, getting to the Dutch Island our engine stopped.

“We called for a new engine, and a new one was sent to us. We received it at 1pm. Between 1:30 and 2pm, a chopper was seen around that area. It came around the first time, went back, came back again the second time and left.

“The third time it came around, it dropped a rope from the chopper and a personnel was seen coming down from the chopper into the boat and later went back up, next thing they opened fire and started shooting at us.

“After shooting sporadically at us, believing that we have all died, and they left us in pool of blood. We bleed seriously untill we were rescued by other transporters.”

Though he didn’t give account of the other two persons who were with him in the boat.

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