Bonny residents bemoan pirate attacks, killings

Following incessant pirates attacks and killings on their waterways, residents of Bonny Council Area in Rivers State, yesterday, protested against the development.

The protesters, mostly youths, said the most recent attack took place on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 led to the drowning of two indigenes of the Island in the sea after pirates attacked their boat.

They explained after each attack, the pirates usually made away with valuables from the passengers and ask them to jump into the sea. They also listed names of victims of the attacks, which dated back to 2015.

Consequently, the Rivers State Government in July 2019 unveiled a special security initiative, code-named Operation Sting in which patrol vehicles and gunboats were donated to security agencies to tackle crimes on roads and waterways in the state.

The Rivers State Police Command also deployed 366 special constabularies to various localities for its community policing initiative last week, but the protesters insisted that the security situation had not improved on the Island.

Currently, Bonny Council could only be accessed through the high sea, as the Federal Government’s 37-kilometer bridge worth N120b to connect the Island to mainland Rivers State is yet to be completed.