A’Ibom police command plans clampdown on sea pirates

Akwa Ibom State Police Commissioner, Olatoye Durosinmi, has warned sea pirates on the state waterways, saying the command would soon mobilise marine police to the coastal areas. He disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists in his office after parading 29 suspects for various offences.

According to the CP, the command is aware of the activities of sea pirates, who terrorise riverine areas. He listed atrocities by pirates against residents to include: collection of illegal levies from fishermen, kidnapping, seizure of boats and killing of innocent passengers.

“Having known all these atrocities, we will soon begin aggressive manhunt on the sea pirates, who are determined to make our waterways unsafe for both passengers and fishermen.”

According to him, affected coastal routes include: Efiat-Mbo , Oron-Calabar, Ibeno-Eastern Obolo, Inen Ekeffe-Ogoni-Bonny Island in Rivers State and other adjoining creeks in the state, which had become conquered territories for sea pirates.

The command, he explained, has received reports of nefarious activities of sea pirates and attacks on fishermen, which have resulted in scarcity of fish in the market.

“Very soon, such criminals will be arrested and brought to book. Marine police will be deployed to those areas to patrol just to keep the pirates at bay,” he said.

The CP disclosed that Akwa Ibom State Government had shown support and commitment to fighting crimes along the waterways by providing patrol boats for the command.

“Let me appreciate Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, for providing boats for police to patrol the state waterways. We have received the first batch of the boats from government. We will soon deploy marine police patrol team to all waterways in the state.”

“Patrolling the waterways will certainly check upsurge of crime and criminalities along the waterways,” he said. He appreciated Emmanuel for handling security matters with diligence by providing all necessary supports for the police to work.