On Friday morning, five passengers travelling from Bille community in the Degema local government area of Rivers State to Port Harcourt, the state capital, were killed while on the waterways by suspected sea pirates.
Bebe Oyibo Jacob, a local who made this announcement to journalists in Port Harcourt on Friday, claimed that several more passengers were still missing as a result of the incident.
According to Jacob, the incident happened when a passenger boat travelling from Bille to the state capital was shot at by suspected sea pirates.
He said: “This morning (Friday), our passenger boat that was going to Port Harcourt was attacked by some boys, killing about five persons. We have entered the water and succeeded in rescuing one person and also recovered one corpse, which we have taken back to Bille.
“Let Governor Wike know that these boys have started again. They have blocked Bille River and no other way to come to Bille and no way to go back to Port Harcourt.”
Jacob called on the Rivers State government and security agencies to act fast to restore sanity on the waterways.
He added: “The state government and agencies should send a team to come and see what is happening. We wanted peace on the Bille River and we made peace but they have started again. Government should send a team to come and investigate otherwise, we, the Bille people will not accept this”
The Rivers State Police Command is yet to react to the attack as at the time of filing this report.