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By Amos Odeh, Yenagoa
The Maritime Union Workers of Nigeria in Bayelsa State has decried the incessant attacks by sea pirates along the Bayelsa water ways especially the Southern Ijaw axis, and have appealed to the government for adequate security to enable boat operators do their business effectively.
The chairman of Otuan unit of the Maritime union, Comrade Joseph Shadrack stated this while speaking to journalists at Swali Market waterside in Yenagoa.
According to him, apart from the insecurity on the waterways, where one of his members was shot dead and his boat stolen by sea pirates at Otuan Waterside in Southern Ijaw, the union has consistently appealed to the state government to beef up security and assist the union with soft loans to buy more equipment and high standard boats, as the sea pirates capitalize on their obsolete boats compared to the sophisticated ones they use to intimidate and overpower them on the rivers constantly.
“We have been appealing to the state government to beef up security to make the waterways safer for traders and transporters to enhance commercial activities in the state,” he said.
He noted that in most cases when the sea pirates strike they not only dispossess them of their goods, but steal their money and even raped female victims and cart away their boats until good Samaritans come to their rescue.
“We have been calling on the state government to embark on regular patrols, as security agencies on the waterways provided by oil and gas companies operating in areas around oil producing communities usually give excuse that they were not sent there to protect the waterway, but to secure the facilities of the multinationals operating there,” he lamented.
We also call on the oil and gas companies operating there to embark on securing the waterways as part of their corporate social responsibilities,” he posited.
He however commended the political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) for their patronage during the 2019 general election when the electoral umpire charted over 30 boats to transport electoral materials to their destinations.
On whether they were compromised during the last elections, he said politicians approached them for boats and they were released to them after fulfilling their financial obligations.
He also debunked insinuations that most boat operators were hijacked by the ruling party to frustrate the opposition parties, adding that the union gave all parties equal treatment and charged them accordingly without any preferential treatment as their job is ‘cash and carry.’
It will be recalled that during previous elections in the state, the ruling party would allegedly hire the whole fleet of boats at fantastic prices, frustrating opposition parties’ efforts to secure boats for transportation. Also, since Bayelsa State is 85 percent riverine, the ruling party would allegedly be coasting to victory as it were, while ensuring that without boats, eligible voters cannot be transported to their riverine communities to cast their votes.
But our investigations revealed that this time around, the APC did not take chances or wait for the PDP to hire majority of the boats to their (APC) detriment. Also, the Restoration government of Seriake Dickson has reduced the recourse to water transportation with the ongoing three senatorial roads construction that has made areas such as parts of Southern Ijaw, Nembe and Ekeremor that were hitherto inaccessible by roads to be now be linked by road.
Notably, the people of Ekeremor were enmeshed in euphoria and celebration over the link road which has made it possible for vehicles to enter their communities after 40 years of unfulfilled promises for a road by successive governments, until Governor Seriake Dickson matched words with action and made the feat possible.
