Sea pirates operating in the oil- rich Niger Delta region Wednesday struck again on the Bonny-Port Harcourt route when they attacked and seized a boat carrying 21 passengers who they dumped in the mangrove and made away with the boat and two passengers.

According to the Lagos based This Day newspaper Thursday, this is the second attack on four of the boats purchased by Bonny local government to ease water transportation to and from the oil and gas rich island.

It reported that the boat which set out from Port Harcourt was hijacked and the passengers were dispossessed of their personal valuable before they were dumped in the mangrove.

The attackers said to be numbering about six, armed with assorted weapons ranging from AK47 to General Purpose Machine gun and Rocket Propelled Grenade.

The identities of the two passengers taken away by the attackers were not clear while their whereabouts remained unknown so far.

The other passengers that were dumped had been rescued.Sagir Musa, spokesman of the Joint Task Force in the State, confirmed the incident, adding that the attack took place near Dutch Island.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)