By Amos Odeh
The Maritime Union workers of Nigeria in Bayelsa State have decried the incessant attacks by sea pirates along the Bayelsa waterways especially the Southern Ijaw axis and therefore appealed to the state for adequate security to enable boat operators do their business effectively.
The chairman of Otuan unit of the Maritime Union, Comrade Joseph Shadrack, made the appeal while addressing journalists at Swali market waterside in Yenagoa.
According to him, apart from the insecurity in the waterways where one of its 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 capitalized on their obsolete boats compared to the sophisticated ones they used to intimidate and over powered them on the rivers incessantly “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 said in most cases when the sea pirates struck they not only dispossessed them of their goods, but them they stole their money and even raped female victims and cart away their boats until good Samaritans will 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 the area which an oil producing communities usually feigned excuses 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 parts 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 where 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 partied equal treatments and were charged accordingly without any preferential consideration as their job is cash and Cary.
It will be recalled that in previous elections in the state the ruling party would hire the entire boats at fabulous prices and by the time the opposition parties would come for boats ,none would be available and since Bayelsa state is 85% riverine ,the ruling party must have started coasting to victory as it were 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 for the PDP to hire majority of the boats to the detriment of the All Progressive Congress and the more so the restoration government of Seriake Dickson has not only changed the nomenclature of the some communities as riverine communities, but has reduced waterways transportation with the on going three senatorial roads construction that has made areas such as parts of Southern Ijaw ,Nembe and Ekeremor that were hitherto inaccessible by roads but can now be linked by road as the people of Eketemor were enmeshed in euphoria of celebration of motor entering their communities after 40 years of unfulfilled promises of a road by successive governments until Governor Seriake Dickson matched words with action and this feat had endeared the community to rally round a political party that has given them road which is a precursor of other social amenities and promotion of commercial activities.