At least eight persons travelling to Port Harcourt in a passenger boat have been kidnapped along the Kula-Abonrma waterway in Rivers State.

According to the Rivers Chairman, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Jonah Jumbo, the passengers were abducted by gunmen suspected to be pirates on Monday morning.

Jumbo said out of the eight kidnapped persons, five were members of the maritime union in Kula, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area headed to Port Harcourt for a meeting, The Nation reports.

The Chairman appealed to the abductors to release them unconditionally and called on the State Government and security agencies to intervene immediately.

He said, “The Kula unit and Abomema unit (of maritime workers union) were asked to come for a meeting in the state office here in Port Harcourt, this morning (Monday).

“On their way from Kula, we got a complaint (report) that the officials who were coning for the meeting were kidnapped.

“All the passengers were kidnapped, including three others in the boat. Up till now, nobody has heard anything from the kidnappers.

“So, we are appealing to the general public, the government and security agencies to really help us and see how they can reach the kidnappers,” he said.

When contacted, the spokesman for the Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, said he was yet to get the report on the incident.