Gunmen believed to be sea pirates on Tuesday night attacked a commercial passenger vessel along the Okrika-Bonny Waterways and made away with unspecified amount of money.
The sea robbers also dispossessed the passengers of their cell phones and other valuables before disappearing into the surrounding creeks.
A commercial boat operator who witnessed the attack, said the suspected pirates in two speedboats painted in blue and green colours stopped the passenger boat on its way to Bonny and ransacked its occupants at midsea.
�The pirates ordered all the passengers to surrender their cash and valuables or risk being shot�, one of the men who witnessed the incident said on Wednesday.
The attackers did not however inflict injury on any of the passengers after taking away their belongings.
Rivers State Police Command said on Wednesday that the attack was not reported to the police until an enquiry was launched on Wednesday afternoon.
The Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mrs. Ireju Barasua, confirmed the attack but said that a member of the commercial boat association in the state sent in the information late on Wednesday.
She said the matter was being investigated and urged natives of the state to avoid travelling with large sums of money on water without security.
The incident brings to three the number of pirates� attack along the route in the last two months.
In December, the hoodlums had attacked two commercial boats along the Okrika-Bonny route and made away with cash and valuables from the passengers.
Although the police later arrested the suspects following a tip-off, militants last month attacked an oil-servicing company�s vessel and killed a Dutch and a Nigerian after taking the cash on board.
Five other persons were seriously wounded in the attack.
The route is also noted for oil bunkering and other sea-borne atrocities.