Family Demands Justice For Slain Boat Driver In Rivers

The family of a boat driver, Owei Ibolo, who was killed along the Bakana waterways in the Degema local government area of Rivers State, has demanded justice over the killing of their son by suspected hoodlums.

The family also demanded the recovery of their late son’s boat and engine which the hoodlums stole after killing the driver.

Owei, a Bayelsa State-born marine transporter who was resident in Port Harcourt with a wife and three children until his untimely death, was murdered on Saturday, July 13, 2024, on his way back to Port Harcourt after a tour of duty in Juma community in Bille Kingdom, also in Degema LGA of Rivers State.

His boat assistant, Tamunoemi Alabo, who narrated the incident, said he was with his boss as they brought up the rear in a fleet of four boats that went on duty to Bille on Friday night.

Alabo said, “At Bakana, on the way to Port Harcourt, we settled Community boys at the first jetty, but at the second jetty, which was a bridge linking old and new Bakana, there were no boys demanding a toll.

“As we drove slowly to pass, three boys emerged from the adjoining bush and shouted at us to stop. The next moment, I heard the boat driver scream that he had been shot, and fell down in the boat, while I jumped into the water to escape. The three boys, got the boat and drove it away with the body of the driver in it.”

He said rescue came his way when one of the boats in the fleet of four came back in search of them, having noticed they were no longer following.

It was gathered that the incident was then reported to the Marine Police at Abonnema Wharf in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Speaking to reporters, the younger brother to the deceased, Mr Lolo Dokubo, said he received a phone call that Saturday morning informing him of his brother’s death.

Dokubo stated that he and some family members rushed down to the Marine Police Station and, from there, hurried to Bakana waterfront but saw neither the brother’s corpse nor his boat.

He further stated that as the report got to the traditional ruler of Bakana, King Lawrence Odum, Barboy IX, he joined the bereaved family in search of the body the following Monday and the body was discovered at the sand-filled area near the bridge, and thereafter took it to the police.

The deceased brother said not done with his effort so far; Odum made the spirited move to apprehend one of the perpetrators of the dastardly act who confessed to the crime and named two other boys from the neighbouring community, Old Bakana.

He said the suspect has been helping the police at the state CID in Port Harcourt while the other two boys are still at large.