Police blame lack of gunboats for recurring pirates’ attacks in Rivers State

Rivers State Police Command has assured the people of Bille kingdom that it would deploy gunboats to secure their waterways.

The Public Relation Officer of the Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, stated this while fielding questions from our reporter Tina Amanda.

He said the Command is also seeking collaboration with the NAVY for a complimentary patrol on the waterways.

According to him, the Command is challenged with deploying most of its gunboats to the waterways, due to the non-functional state of the gunboats.

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“The concerns raised by the communities have reached us and as a Command we are doing our best to ensure we give them a renewed sense of security. We have about fifteen gunboats, but as I speak, only five are in a serviceable condition, the rest ten are not functional.

“That is the major challenge we are contending with as a Command. We will deploy the ones we have. We are not relenting. We are making sure we provide adequate security on the waterways for passengers to ply their route unhindered and unmolested”

He, however, urged people living around the coastal communities to collaborate with the police and give vital information that may lead to the arrest of the pirates in the creeks.

“Policing is not a one-man business. We need the coastal communities to give the command information because the pirates hibernate in those creeks.

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“So they should be able to give us useful information that can lead to the arrest of these boys and the destruction of their camps.

“All hands must be on deck so that when the attack comes on users of the waterways, we will be able to tackle it. They should collaborate with Police to fight these common enemies”

Meanwhile, the three days warning strike by the Marine Workers Union has continued, as no gunboat has been seen around the Bille waterways.