8th January, 2021
Okafor Ofiebor /Port Harcourt
Two passengers were killed in a pirate attack on two commercial boats around Dema Abbey Community on Bonny waterways on Tuesday, it has been learnt.
Rescue operation for many of the passengers in the two boats who were still missing as at the time of filing in this story is going on.
It was learnt that on seizure of the two boats on the waterway, the pirates compelled the passengers to jump into the water.
In the process, not less than two out of about 14 passengers drowned, while the rest struggled to swim to the nearby bushes and mangroves.
Confirming the tragic incident, the Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, David Irimagha, said security agencies were mobilized to respond to distress calls from victims of the attacks.
He further said the security agencies were on the trail of the perpetrators of the attacks with a view to apprehending them and bring them to face the wrath of the law.
Irimagha appealed for the understanding from the people of the area as efforts were being made to arrest the situation.
“From the very first call we mobilized the security agencies who equally responded speedily, unfortunately, the timing of the incident became a worrisome challenge.”
“Nevertheless security operatives were there to secure the rescued persons and also search for others still inside the water while also chasing the criminals. They later moved the rescued persons to Polokiri Aru-Gbanama, from where they later escorted them to Bonny”.
He stated that the rescue operation was still on in search of those yet to be accounted for while the corpses of the two dead persons have been recovered and brought back to Bonny.
The Bonny LG boss commiserated with the bereaved families over the loss of their loved ones, describing their deaths as “unfortunate and premature” while urging them to take solace in the comfort that the Almighty God avails.
He assured that his administration was doing all it can to ensure that those who were yet uncounted for were found and brought back to their families.
Piracy has been the bane of marine transportation in coastal communities of the Niger Delta.
Besides lives that are prematurely cut short, goods, including the speedboats worth millions of naira. An average Speed boat engines cost not less than N2million depending on the horsepower.