Chairman of Port Harcourt district of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria in Rivers State, Isreal Pepple, has spoken of the losses suffered by its members during the recent attack by pirates along the Isaka waterway in the Bonny Local Government area of the state.
He said the dare-devil sea robbers carted away goods and property worth millions of naira, before abducting 13 passengers from two boats.
He made the clarification on Wednesday, even as he appealed to the state sole administrator, retired Rear Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, to come to their aid.
He said: “With the information we gathered, it was 13 persons, including the driver. The other boat was going to Bonny with goods; six people were kidnapped from that boat. So, six plus 13 makes 19.
“Like we said last time, we will have no option because the thing is becoming a routine action, such that as they release one, they come back and kidnap again.
“So it is more or less a business for them. I think that the union will go into a meeting and whatever our decision is, we will implement it.
“We will not be far from downing our tools to attract the government to take action. You can imagine that just within 2pm and 6pm, three boats were attacked, 19 persons were kidnapped, and goods and property were hijacked.
“The irony of it all is that there are gunboats, but no fuel to operate them. The gunboats are there close to this office, but no logistics are provided for them.
“So we are also calling on the sole administrator to try and do something because it is getting out of hand.”
One of the boats was said to be going towards Bonny Island, while the other was going towards the Cawthorne Channel in Bille in the Degema Local Government Area of the state when the attack occurred on Tuesday afternoon.
Spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringi-Koko, confirmed the abduction, adding that investigation was ongoing to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.
She said: “What we heard was that 13 passengers were abducted. But investigation is ongoing to rescue them and ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to book.”
