Relevant stakeholders have been called upon to review the security architecture in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State following the spate of security challenges facing the area in recent times.

A highly placed player in the oil and gas industry and public affairs analyst, Dr Bara Kabaka Brown made this call in a virtual interview with Kristina Reports today.

The Ph.D. holder in Occupational Safety and Health Management was reacting to Saturday’s kidnap saga where four titled citizens of Bonny Kingdom were abducted by daredevil hoodlums who stormed the venue of a funeral at Banigo Isile-Ogono shooting sporadically. 

Four persons, Thompson Allison, Daniel Hart, Sunny Hart, and Theophilus Ibiama were kidnapped while several others sustained gunshot wounds including the Leader of the Bonny Legislative Assembly, Miriam Hart, who is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed medical facility.

Dr Brown, an Environmental and Public Health enthusiast, who described the incident as ‘unfortunate’, said the situation in the island LGA calls for serious concern, urging the relevant authorities to quickly review the security architecture.

“Quite an unfortunate eventuality. This is a clear indication of how porous our communal land and sea borders are. This calls for serious concern and a review of our security architecture.”

He proposed that the Chairman of Bonny LGA, David Irimagha, should lead this review process given that he is the Chief Security Officer of the LGA, supported by other stakeholders.

Irimagha, accompanied by the member representing Bonny Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Abinye Pepple, was among top guests at Banigo Isile-Ogono on Saturday who escaped being shot by the trigger-happy hoodlums.

Bonny Island is host to Nigeria’s economic giants, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited (MPNL), and Chevron Nigeria Limited, among others that rake in approximately N1 trillion in naira for the Federal Government per annum. 

In order to assure security given this humongous investment profile of the area, the Federal Government has emplaced all aspects of the security architecture in the area except the Nigerian Air Force.

At the moment, the 146 Battalion of the Nigerian Army (NA), a Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the Nigerian Navy (NN), two Divisions of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), a Division of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), an LG Office of the Department of State Services (DSS), and an outpost of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), among others are currently in Bonny Island.