Stakeholders in the maritime sector in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State say there has been full compliance with the directive of the State Governor, Nyesom Wike on total lockdown of the area since Sunday, June 21, 2020.

These include the Bonny Marine Transport Association (BMTA), Bonny Boat Pilots Association, and the Bonny Boat Owners Investment Cooperative (BBOIC), the Marine Division of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Navy.

In different interactions with Kristina Reports, they maintained that all private and commercial passenger and cargo boats in the area have been berthed and not plied the seas for the past ten days.

In a telephone chat with Kristina Reports, Chairman of the Bonny Marine Transport Association (BMTA), Maxwell Hart said “no boat from Bonny have loaded passengers since the lockdown started. As you must have noticed all our boats are parked at the Coal Beach. None of them h

“Our members have been on total lockdown as the Governor said. We are law abiding and cannot disobey the directive of the Governor,” noting that, though it was economically inimical to them, they had no choice but to obey the directive of the Governor.

Also in a telephone chat with this tabloid, Chairman of the Bonny Boat Pilots Association, Godswill Jumbo, debunked reports of incidences of illegal loading and ferrying of passengers from different parts of the island, stressing that such were not by his members.

“It is not my people, not at all. We are on total lockdown, we are not loading and our people are at home all this while. Those people you are talking about are not our members and we have reported to the marine police and they are investigating to find out whether it is true or not”.

Both men stated that insinuations that such incidences were occurring have also been reported to the appropriate authorities who have also acted to stop such illegalities.

Both the Officer-in-Charge of the Nigeria Police Force, Marine Division, Bonny, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Solomon Adeniyi, and the Regulating Officer of the Nigerian Navy component of the internal security taskforce in Bonny LGA, Sub. Lt. Philip Ojediran, confirmed receiving reports of such developments but dismissed it as mere rumour.    

DSP Adeniyi stated that his men have checked out all entry and exit points in the area and were also patrolling the Bonny waterways but have not witnessed any such incidence.

“It’s true that we have received such reports but we have put our eyes everywhere like Bonny main jetty, Finima jetty, then Dappa-Posie jetty. You know Bonny is an island and boats can pass anywhere but we have also gotten in touch with Port Harcourt so that we can track any boat loading from that axis.”

“We are doing six to six on the river and we hardly see any boat load except some boats on essential services such as people coming with medical personnel or food. Those ones we allow them to pass but anything passengers, civilians, we don’t allow them; in fact, we apprehend them and impound the boat.”

Also, speaking, Sub Lt. Philip Ojediran maintained that his men have checked all areas reported and found no such illegal loading activities, stated that all special passengers leaving the island on medical or other special considerations were properly documented but no commercial activities have taken place anywhere.

He assured that troops from the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Nigerian Navy, Bonny were ever ready and capable to checkmating any illegal maritime activity, adding that gunboats deployed from NNS Pathfinder, Port Harcourt were also surveilling the Bonny waterways on a 24 hour sweep and would intercept any illegal movements at sea.