As if this was not one too many, sea pirates yesterday at about 9am attacked a passenger boat ferrying travelers from Port Harcourt to Bonny Island, home of Nigeria’s economic behemoths, Nigeria LNG plant and Shell Nigeria’s Bonny crude oil terminal, the largest in West Africa.

Both oil and gas facilities and their associated companies and activities fetch Nigeria revenue worth over $10 million annually.

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The Bonny River, the only sea route between Bonny and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital has witnessed more pirates’ attacks than any other aspect of the Gulf of Guinea and this has been under the watch of the nation’s maritime security agencies, the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the joint military taskforce codenamed “Operation Delta Safe”, among others.

Pastrine Longjohn, a 400 level student of the Rivers State University, who hails from Abalamabie in Bonny Local Government Area, recounted the ordeal he and his fellow passengers witnessed today when the daredevil sea pirates attacked.

Incidentally, he shares same hometown with the Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria LNG, Osobonye Longjohn, who is also the Chief and Head of Longjohn chieftaincy house of Bonny Kingdom.

Here is his story as published on his Facebook timeline:

“The story on how I was robbed this morning at about 9:05am👉👉

I left home went to the BONNY jettty this morning at exactly 8:00am and boarded a boat going to Bonny and at about 8:40am we left ph for Bonny…

25mins after we left Ph for Bonny, we saw a speed boat waving at us to slow down. They are 6 in numbers + the driver all with guns…

Our driver refuses to stop after noticing it was sea pirates…

So they chaised us and met up with us, our driver still refused to stop, they have to start shooting…

After about 5mins of battling with them they now shot our driver 😥😥😥

At this point I knew we’ve entered one chance….

Two of them now jumped in our boat all holding guns to our heads with the instructions.. All heads down and they pushed our driver into the river… And drove us away to an unknown destination…

After about 15mins drive they now parked and told us to drop all our stuffs.. Which everybody did except me

I was holding my phone on my and I was still covering my head…  So I had to put my phone inside my boxers 😔😔😔 tho my other phones and cash was in my bag which they took away….

So we all came down on the mud except for an elderly woman and a kid that was in the boat…

They’ve to transfer them to a fisherman’s boat… And dove off with both our boat and theirs with all our stuffs…

Luckily for us that my phone was safe, I’ve to make some calls across for rescues and with the help of the fisherman, they were able to locate us.. And rescue us.. 😔😔😔😊

Thanks to God almighty for our lives and safety….

Tho I’ve lost all my stuffs and phones😥😥😥😥

My special appreciation to Comr Sylva Omoni

Uncle Charles Jackmay

BMTA Body….Marine for your fast and quick response for our rescue and to all those who shown concious…”

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There has been over 20 pirates’ attacks in the past two years with travelers on the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route always apprehensive whenever traveling along the river.

Aside deaths recorded especially due to drowning, some passengers including a former youth leader of Bonny Kingdom, Maclayton Halliday, have lost their lives due to exasperation on the part of the criminals who shoot indiscriminately at the passengers either injuring or killing them.

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In some instances, the hoodlums push their victims into the deep blue sea without any consideration of their swimming abilities, or rape the women in broad daylight while their fellow passengers watch. Last year a pregnant woman was one of the rape victims.

Also, countless injuries have been sustained, and properties worth millions lost, not mentioning the trauma victims have had to live with after they survive the attacks.

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A native of Finima Town in Bonny LGA, Dinah Brown lamented on her Facebook wall how she lost all her consignments worth millions in the attack. Sadly, nobody indemnifies these losses.

The Bonny Marine Transport Association (BMTA) has consistently failed in taking adequate steps to engage relevant stakeholders in addressing the security risks passengers who patronize it members have to face using their facilities.

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Late last year, a boat pilot pulled out to sea on a trip to Bodo in Gokana LGA under inclement weather, that ill-advised voyage cost the lives of two students and an aged woman. One of the students, a lady studying at the Ken Saro Polytechnic, was the younger sister of popular blogger, Inengisa Opuada Bibam.

The marine component of the state police command was fingered in the incident as the cause of the deaths of the three persons.

Unconfirmed reports had it then that the armed naval personnel escorting the NLNG ferries along the river rescued all 12 victims of the boat mishap but the police disagreed with them on getting them to NLNG clinic in Bonny for emergency treatment by medical personnel already assembled awaiting their arrival.

After an altercation that saw both services allegedly drawing their weapons at each other, the decision was made to split the victims six apiece between the Navy and the Police. While the Navy got their victims to land and were treated the police reportedly delayed getting theirs to any medical facility thus leading to the death of the three victims.

After the initial uproar, the matter was rested without any action on getting the erring policemen to account for their actions or compensate the families of the deceased over their loss.  A relative of the one of the deceased told Kristina Reports that the Police even demanded money from them to release the corpses for autopsy and burial.

So far, the security agencies seem at a loss on the best way to tackle the menace while the federal, state and local government at all levels appear unconcerned. Though the security agencies are under the control of the federal government, it has failed to take any concrete action on the

The issues surrounding the way the marine transport system was being run in Bonny LGA surfaced at the public hearing organized by the Bonny Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 when some participants raised concern that the sector was not being regulated and the operators lacking in basic marine knowhow.

Though the lawmakers assured that they would visit the BMTA to assess the personnel and equipment and procedures there, there are doubts that much will come out of it. A member of the BMTA, who pleaded anonymity said due to political undertones the leadership of the association cannot be sanctioned for any infractions whether conceived or mistaken.

A security expert, Larry Pepple told Kristina Reports that a decision needs to be made to procure a 50 seater ferry like those being utilized by the NLNG to convey their staff to and fro Port Harcourt and have them accompanied by armed security escorts as a way out of the ugly debacle.

He posits that the age of using the rickety speedboats and worn-out outboard engines were over and new paradigm needs to be embraced. This, according to him would incorporated training and retraining of the maritime operators to bring them up the speed to global best practices in the maritime sector.

Whether this admonition from the security czar would be heeded by relevant stakeholders in the sector remains to be seen.