Pirates Strike Again, Seize Passenger Boat in Bayelsa

Emmanuel Addeh

An armed gang suspected to be pirates yesterday struck again in Bayelsa waterways barely 48 hours after launching an ambush that killed three passengers on Tuesday.

The gunmen reportedly hijacked a passenger boat along the Nembe-Brass creeks, took its occupants deep into the sea before asking them to disembark.

None of the passengers died as they were all said to have swum to safety.

Another gang had on August 28 ambushed a military houseboat and killed a soldier and civilian crew.

Again, last Friday, the bandits attacked an oil services vessel killing three security men on board.

Before they struck yesterday, it was gathered that the suspects had trailed the boat after it had dropped off its occupants in Brass from Nembe before hijacking it.

An eyewitness who declined to be named said the suspected pirates armed with sophisticated weapons shot several times into the air before seizing the boat.

Chairman of the Bayelsa State Chapter of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Lloyd Sese, who confirmed the incident, said pirates’ activities on the waterways have made life unbearable.

Sese said the union had appealed to relevant authorities to come to the aid of commuters on the waterways saying that the attack on boats has become a frequent occurrence.

A youth leader from the area, Robert Desmond, also condemned the incessant sea pirate attacks on the waterways, describing the acts as not only senseless but inhuman.

He wondered why a group of Bayelsa youth should be ”terrorising their own people”, and urged the security agencies to up their activities in the area.

Desmond tasked security personnel to be on the alert particularly the Brass-Nembe people who are in dire need of marine security.

He called on law enforcement agents to apprehend the pirates, destroy every network and arsenal they may have in their possession, in order to bring respite to the Nembe-Brass people.

Also confirming the incident, Asinim Butswat, a deputy superintendent of police, and spokesman of the Police Command, said that the command had intensified efforts to check criminality and restore security in the area, insisting that the security agencies were on top of the matter.