Rivers Assembly To Address Bonny Sea Piracy

The frequent pirates’ attacks along the Bonny waterway is now being addressed by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The lawmaker representing Bonny Constituency in Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Abinye Pepple said the House will not relent in ensuring the issues of sea piracy affecting the waterways is resolved in the state.
This follows a petition presented on the floor of the House by Hon. Pepple on behalf of a group known as End Sea pairacy in Bonny Local Government Area.
Pepple expressed confidence that the petition which was referred to the  House Committee on Public complaints and Petitions  would give the petition accelerated hearing.
Recall that last month protesters who were mostly youths resident on Bonny Island told The Tide that the most recent attack was on January 5, 2021, when two indigenes drowned in the river after pirates attacked their boat.
They added that the pirates after the attack made away with valuables from the passengers, and asked them to jump into the high sea.
It would also be recalled that, due to high rate of attacks by pirates on the Island, the Rivers State Government in July 2019 launched a special security initiative, code-named “Operation Sting” in which patrol vehicles and gunboats were donated to security agencies to tackle violent crimes on roads and waterways in the state.
The Bonny protesters, however, insisted that there had been no improvement in the security situation in Bonny.
Bonny Local Government Area can only be accessed through the high sea, as the Federal Government’s N120 billion 37-kilometer bridge to connect the Island to mainland Rivers State is yet to be completed.