15 August 2014, Yenagoa – Yenagoa—Maritime workers in Bayelsa State have threatened to withdraw their services in protest over the recent upsurge in pirates’ attacks on passenger boats in the creeks.
It will be recalled that Governor Seriake Dickson had last week approved the appointments of a former leader of the defunct Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, widely known as Boyloaf and 10 others into its special task force to curb criminality in the creeks
Lamenting what they described as the insensitivity of the state government to their plight, the boat operators, under the auspices of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, have issued a two week ultimatum to the government to address the insecurity on the waterways, failure of which they will withdraw their services.
Chairman of the maritime workers union, Mr. Lloyd Sese, yesterday in Yenagoa, said that the waterways was no longer safe for any meaningful business due to the incessant attacks on passenger boats by the rampaging pirates leading to the death of some boat drivers and passengers.
– Vanguard
