The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says its gallant operatives have foiled another attack by sea pirates and also rescued the beleaguered passengers, who have safely arrived their destination.

The Police further disclosed that the pilot of the speedboat ferrying the passengers to Bonny from Port Harcourt, identified as Inye Hart has been detained for violating existing navigation laws, saying that he exposed the passengers to avoidable danger by navigating a creek that has been banned from use.

Officer-in-charge of the Marine Division of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Bonny LGA, Solomon Adeniyi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), in a telephone interview with Kristina Reports, revealed that the incident happened on the evening of Monday, January 18, 2021 along VIP Creek, off the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route.

DSP Adeniyi informed that Inye Hart will be “charged to court for the offences of endangering life at sea (a violation of the Merchant Shipping Act) and disobedience to a lawful order not to move through the banned Dutch Island VIP Creek (a violation of the Bonny Local Government Byelaw)”.

Deputy Leader of the Bonny Legislative Assembly, Dipinye Jumbo asserted that the law will take its course in the matter, stressing that whoever breaches the laws of the land will face the full wrath of the law, stressing that no stone will be left unturned to safeguard the lives and properties of the people of Bonny LGA.

Chairman of the Speedboat Pilots Association, Godswill Jumbo confirmed the development to Kristina Reports while the Chairman of the Bonny Marine Transporters Association (BMTA), Maxwell Hart declined comments on the issue when Kristina Reports contacted him on the phone.

Protests rocked Bonny Island and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, last week as residents took to the streets to demand action from the authorities to checkmate the rising spate of sea pirates’ attacks on the Bonny waterways.

The protesters marched from the Coal Beach in Bonny to the King Perekule Palace and then to the Bonny Local Government Secretariat where they presented their 5-Point demands to the authorities.

They were to later converge at the entrance to the Government House, Port Harcourt where they presented the 5-Point demands to the State Commissioner for Youth Development, Prince Ohia, and then marched to the State House of Assembly complex, where their demands were received by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, represented by the lawmaker representing Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Constituency, Christian Ahiakwo.

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Ahiakwo was accompanied by the lawmaker representing Bonny Constituency, Abinye Pepple.

The protesters then marched to the State Police Command headquarters and the State Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) where they also presented their demands to the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, and the State Chairman of the NUJ, Stanley Job.

Monday evening’s attack seems to have reinforced the unabating status of the menace of se piracy on the Bonny waterways and also underscores the suspected collusion of the marine service operators given the curious decision of the boat pilot to navigate a lonely creek that has been banned from use and in the night.  

In furtherance of their efforts to combat the menace of sea piracy in the security agencies in Bonny LGA banned the navigation of the creeks for all speedboat operators, as well as night sailing beyond 6.00pm, and mandated all marine operators to make life jackets available for their passengers.