Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — A passenger boat has been attacked by suspected pirates along the Bonny waterway in Rivers State, resulting in the kidnap of at least 10 travelers.
SweetCrude Reports gathered that the boat was travelling from Bonny to Port Harcourt when the incident occurred, and the abducted passengers were among a group of travelers who were making their way to Port Harcourt.
Israel Pepple, the State Chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Rivers Commercial District, confirmed the incident to newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Pepple called on the federal and state governments as well as relevant security agencies to beef up security in the waterways to prevent incessant attacks on sea travelers.
He said, “As I speak to you right now, 10 persons have been kidnapped while travelling from Bonny to Port Harcourt. And the others are still afloat in the river waiting for rescue.
“I said let me just draw the attention of the Rivers State Governor, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and the Commissioner of Police that we visited last week that this is what has happened this morning again,” Pepple added.
The incident comes less than a week after members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria protested at the government house in Port Harcourt to lodge a complaint about the upsurge of pirate attacks on the waterways.
The spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, has also confirmed the incident and said an investigation was ongoing to rescue the captives unhurt and apprehend the suspects.
