Barely a week away from the release of kidnap victims abducted from an event centre in Abalamabie Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, the recent skirmishes involving abductions and pirate activities occasionally experienced along the waterways and riverine villages in the area appears to be getting an opposing clap back from the second tier of government in the State.

This is coming as the Bonny Legislative Assembly deliberated on a motion entitled “Motion of Urgency to Erect Security Stations and Sentry Points at Riverine Villages and Abalamabie and Bonny LGA” on the floor of the Assembly in Bonny on Tuesday, June 27, 2021.

Speaking with Kristina Reports in an exclusive interview, Thursday, July 29, 2021, the sponsor of the Motion and Councillor representing Ward 10 in the Assembly, Kingsley Jumbo anchored the motivation for the motion on “the incessant attacks and acts of criminality that have eclipsed and is still eclipsing the riverine enclaves in Bonny LGA.”

The Lawmaker maintained that it was high time for serious concerted attention and strategic movements to be accorded to the security architecture towards expanding, strengthening and making them more formidable “to combat these daredevils that loot and attack our people at the riverine villages and settlements, especially owing to the impetus exhibited by these assailants that enter the communities with unrivaled moral to loot and kidnap.”

Jumbo, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Environment, and Sanitation Services, added that he made seven prayers which included the need for the Assembly to condemn the acts of sea piracy and attacks occasionally suffered by riverine community dwellers as well as the recent rampaging kidnap incidents on the Island.

He asked for security check points to be mounted at strategic exit and entry points at the villages and that a Division of Nigeria Police Force (NPF) be sited around Abalamabie axis and at central areas of the riverine villages citing the case of a Police Station in Finima, as an example.

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Other prayers of the journalist turned politician were for the Assembly to urge the Rivers State Police Command to take all necessary intensive steps to effect the release of the Banigo 5 who have been in captivity for over ten months, explaining that that incident proved that policing alone cannot provide the security needs of the Island which was why he also appealed for the creation of a Joint Neighborhood security outfit that will comprise state security agents.

He said that he was aware most of his prayers will be capital intensive, justifying why he equally prayed for the Assembly to call on the Joint Industry Companies (JIC) to proactively synergize with the Bonny Local Government Council, Traditional Institution and other critical stakeholders towards consolidating on available support in securing the Kingdom and Local Government Area where they operate from.

This effort by Hon. Jumbo is coming one week after Kristina Reports’ news commentary, Why Kidnappers Will Continue Using Abalamabie For Egress – Investigation, which analyzed the terrain and proffered possible solutions to avert a recurrence of the impetuous rampage of kidnappers, some of which are the timely prayers of the Burukiri born Lawmaker.

Checks by Kristina Reports show that Kingsley Jumbo, the youngest lawmaker in the Bonny Legislative Assembly, is the first Councillor from Rivers State in the 8th and 9th Legislative Assembly which started in 2018 to read an accepted motion on the floor of the Assembly less than 30 days after inauguration, signposting an attitude of preparedness for the arduous task of lawmaking.

If this motion sees the light of day, the impact on the security architecture of Bonny LGA will be sharpened to fit the burgeoning human ingress as a result of the International Oil Gas Companies, especially the ongoing NLNG Train 7 project that is projected to engage some 50 thousand workers at its zenith.