Travelers utilizing the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route can now breathe some air of relief as the Bonny Local Government Council in conjunction with the operators of the marine transport system and the security agencies in the area agreed on new plans on how to tackle the recurring menace of sea piracy on the waterways.

Speedboats are now to travel in convoys of at least three boats, all boat pilots to have walkie-talkie for radio communication with security agencies, compulsory manifests to incident every passenger, and all passengers to wear life vests were part of the resolutions reached between the stakeholders.

This was sequel to meeting between the local government authorities, the boat owners, operators and security operatives at the behest of the Chairman of the LGA, David Irimagha in his office on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

The Bonny Boat Owners Investment Cooperative (BBOIC), Bonny Marine Transport Association (BMTA) and the Boat drivers were part of the meeting where these and several other far reaching resolutions were made.

According to a statement by the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Chairman of Bonny LGA, Williams Ogbah Agwu, the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Navy and the Joint Taskforce, Operation Delta Safe, and the Department of State Services (DSS), among other security agencies were represented at the meeting.

The statement partly reads: “Today, the 17th day of October, 2019, the Executive Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Hon. Engr. David Rogers Irimagha met with the boat operators plying the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route – Bonny Boat Owners Investment Cooperative (BBOIC), Bonny Marine Transport Association (BMTA) and the Boat drivers – in respect to the current security challenges being faced there.

They agreed to come up with a communique on different aspects of their operations covering the boats, boat drivers and boat owners plying the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route.

Basically, a committee was set up by the Bonny Local Government Council comprising members of the boat factions and the security agencies. The committee was mandated to finetune the resolutions arrived at during the meeting and is expected to come up with a communique that would be made available to the public in a week’s time.

Among the resolutions, arrived at during the meeting, include the issue of travel times during which the boats can ply the sea route.

It was agreed that henceforth this will be between 7am in the morning and 5pm in the evening. In the event of inclement weather which will prevent the boats from moving, it was agreed that a flag would be put up to stop all movements until 7.30am or 8am, depending on how the weather improves.

Passengers are hereby advised to ensure they cooperate with these arrangements and restrict their movements to these times due to security challenges. In as much as there is freedom of movement when there are security concerns people should understand that there will be restriction of movement. Everybody should make sure that their movements fall within these travel periods.

Among other things that were looked into is that the gunboats would be positioned at strategic locations along the sea route to thwart the activities of sea pirates. Those positions have been mapped out by the security operatives in collaboration with the boat operators.

Then there was also the issue of manifest. Every boat plying the Bonny-Port Harcourt has been mandated to compulsorily produce manifests which will bear the names of every passenger boarding such boats. This will help the local government to have the necessary data on the movement of people in and out of the LGA.

In the same vein, it was resolved that boats would be moving in a convoy of three boats at a time. The boat operators are to ensure that at least three boats are loaded and complete and then move simultaneously. Passengers are implored to bear with the operators to ensure compliance with this arrangement for the good of all.

It was also agreed that henceforth all boat operators will be kitted with a very high frequency (VHF) radio so that they can maintain close communication with the security agencies as well as their people on land while plying the route. Government is making arrangements to provide these immediately.

There will also be compulsory life vests for every passenger and every passenger is mandated to wear a life vest.

The committee that has been inaugurated for the purpose of streamlining the activities of the boat operators will also look into the issues of loading, overloading and carrying of goods by the speedboat drivers. The committee is expected to monitor both the Port Harcourt and the Bonny axis of the sea route to ensure that the speedboats that are carrying passengers are not overloaded with goods.

Other resolutions arrived at during the meeting would be finetuned and made known to the public via the communique in a week’s time.2

The statement further reveals that the Bonny LG boss appealed to “every Bonny indigene and non-indigene, residents and visitors to have the hope and knowledge that the security agencies are on top of the security situation along the Bonny-Port Harcourt sea route.”