Again, pirates attack boat, abduct passengers in Bonny
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has said that it was moving towards phasing out wooden boats on inland waterways.

The Managing Director of NIWA, Bola Oyebamiji, made this known to Editors at the weekend during an interaction in Lagos.

The interaction, which focused largely on the safety of the waterways and expansion of water travels, had the Managing Director tell the Editors that wooden boats constituted over 90 per cent of boats on the waterways. Oyebamiji said they also accounted for the majority of accidents on the waterways nationwide.

He said this was largely because they had no regard for operational rules, which included not travelling at night, overloading and failure to use life jackets by both operators and passengers.

He said: “Travelling at night is a criminal offence. Most of them have no light at all. Overloading is also an issue. And the boats are piloted by people of the lowest education in Nigeria.”

On how to resolve the issue in the short term, Oyebamiji said NIWA had consciously increased the number of its Marshals at jetties from 80 to 350 to cover the entire country.

He said at least two marshals are at jetties per time daily, observing morning and night shifts. He also revealed that the agency has embarked on a rigorous campaign both at the jetties and via the media.

The Managing Director, however, said the long term goal is to phase out wooden boats from operation. In this wise, Oyebamiji said the agency was liaising with the Presidency and Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, headed by Minister Adegboyega Oyetola, to replace wooden boats nationwide.

He equally said for now, more patrol boats will be deployed by the agency to monitor operators in line with the NIWA Code, adding that the Nigerian Navy was also assisting in this regard.

MEANWHILE, the Rivers State Government has called on residents of the state to be security conscious, and not leave security in the hands of the police alone.

Governor Siminilayi Fubara made the call while reacting to the attack on a passenger boat by sea pirates in Bonny on Thursday.

According to him, security agencies are usually stationed along the waterways between 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and wondered why the boat was traveling at night, after security personnel had left the sea. He advised residents to help protect themselves, adding that the Police cannot be everywhere at all times.

He also assured of his administration’s commitment to assisting the police in the protection of lives and property.