No fewer than five passengers were killed along the waterways by suspected Sea pirates on Friday morning while traveling from Bille community in Degema local government area of Rivers State, to Port Harcourt, the state capital.
An indigene of the community, Bebe Oyibo Jacob, who disclosed this on Friday while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, said several others passengers were missing as a result of the incident.
Jacob said the incident occured when the suspected Sea pirates opened fire on a passenger boat which was travelling from Bille to the state capital.
He said: “This morning (Friday), our passenger boat that was going to Port Harcourt was attacked by some boys, killing about five persons. We have entered the water and succeeded in rescuing one person and also recovered one corpse, which we have taken back to Bille.
“Let Governor Wike know that these boys have started again. They have blocked Bille River and no other way to come to Bille and no way to go back to Port Harcourt.”
Jacob called on the Rivers State government and security agencies to act fast to restore sanity on the waterways.
He added: “The state government and agencies should send a team to come and see what is happening. We wanted peace on the Bille River and we made peace but they have started again. Government should send a team to come and investigate otherwise, we, the Bille people will not accept this”
The Rivers State Police Command is yet to react to the attack as at the time of filing this report.
