NO fewer than two naval personnel were feared killed in a mid morning explosion which rocked the Nigerian Navy pathfinder shipyard at Rumuolumeni near Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Three gunboats, a barge and other equipment were also feared lost in the blast, which occurred around 9.00am.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has however claimed responsibility for the incident insisting that it was a sabotage perpetrated by its men inside the Navy.
But the spokesperson of the Joint Task Force (JTF) comprising of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police and State Security Service, Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa, dismissed this claim maintaining that it was an accident caused by an electrical spark.
Musa told The Guardian the boatload of naval officers was preparing to commence routine patrol of the creeks when someone tried to connect the battery inside one of the gunboats and it triggered off the explosion that rocked the shipyard.
“There has been an electrical explosion at the Nigeria Navy Pathfinder jetty this morning. It is truly an accident caused by electrical mishap. About three gunboats and a barge were torched and the casualty figure is still being collated. No doubt one or two of our men might have died in the process”, Musa said.
The JTF spokesman added: “The barge belongs to the Nigerian Navy and the three gunboats are meant for patrol. It was an accident that occurred when they were trying to connect the battery as they were preparing to go on patrol. Accidentally it exploded and caught fire”.
The Pathfinder spokesperson, Lieutenant Way Olabisi, told The Guardian that several naval officers sustained injuries and that they were being treated in a military hospital. But MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo in an online message to The Guardian claimed that the accident was purely a sabotage targeted at it.
“The attack was carried out by men inside the Navy and not our fighters. We don’t know the casualty figure but the boats were docked alongside fuel storage. The navy killings occurred some weeks ago”, Gbomo added.
Militant groups like MEND have in the past attacked the navy in Rivers State and other parts of the Niger Delta. Around 15 unknown gunmen attacked an oil vessel last Wednesday night as it travelled along the Bonny river towards Onne Port. One person was killed during the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the act.
Lt Colonel Musa said the accident would not affect the NNS Pathfinder or the JTF operations in Rivers State and indeed the entire Niger Delta.