BY OGORAMAKA AMOS/PORT HARCOURT
AT least 10 persons in a passenger boat were in the early hours of today kidnapped along Bonny-Port Harcourt waterways by gunmen suspected by Sea pirates.
The details of the kidnap incident remain hazy at the time of filing this report.
However, it was learnt that the incident happened at about 7 am this morning when the passenger boat was sailing from Bonny to Port Harcourt.
“The 10 people were abducted close to an area called the Dutch island around 0700hrs this morning”, the source said.
Numerous impeccable sources confirmed to our Correspondent the gunmen intercepted the boat at gunpoint and kidnapped the passengers.
At the time of filing this report however, the Rivers State Police Command has not confirmed the incident.
Recall could be made that the Maritime Workers Union Nigeria Members of Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Rivers Commercial District, led by Comrade Israel Waribo Pepple had protested to Governor Siminalayi Fubara over the incessant attacks on members and passengers.
According to Pepple who narrated numerous incidents of kidnap of passengers for ransom.
He said further that the sea pirates have been on rampage kidnapping hijacking boat and abducting passengers.
Comrade Pepple expressed displeasure over what he described as the inability of security agencies to do the needful to protect lives and property of law-abiding citizens operating on the sea routes.
He stated that, what they do, rather, is to focus attention mostly on Multinational Oil Companies (IOCs), their equipment and workers due to the economic advantage they derive therefrom.
Pepple also said: “To this end, we call on the Governments to save the souls of our teeming members, whose means of sustenance have consistently been threatened, and have lost so much to sea pirates and men of the under-world.”
