Skip to main content

Pirates kidnap 8 fishermen in Akwa Ibom

FILE PHOTO: Pirates on the sea

FILE PHOTO: Pirates on the sea

Chief Williams Mkpah, the Transitional Chairman of Ibeno Local Government Area has said that sea pirates kidnapped eight fishermen fishing in Akwa Ibom.

Mkpah confirmed the kidnap in an interview in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom on Saturday.

According to him, Ibeno is prone to sea piracy activities.

He said that “two nights ago six fishermen were kidnapped on Thursday night, Aug. 18 and two on Friday morning, Aug. 19 in the creeks of Ibeno and its environs.
.
“As I am speaking sea pirates are increasing in the Ibeno community and they want to ensure that that they stop fishermen from going to sea for fishing,’’ he said.

Mkpah said that the sea pirates were demanding for millions of naira as ransom from the fishermen before releasing them.

He explained that the fishermen were made to pay levies by the sea pirates before they go for fishing in the area.

He alleged that “they have informant in our communities, who will inform them of the take off of a particular fisherman and possible routes where they are going for fishing.

“One of them was caught in Eket in the process of coming to collect ransom for somebody, one of the Ibeno boys made us to track him.

“And he has made useful statement to the police but as I speak now I don’t know what the Police Command in Uyo is doing about it.

“Since the suspect was caught, the issue of sea pirates increased seriously and they are now demanding for their man.

“Since we don’t want to release their man, they have now resorted to kidnapping of every fishermen,’’ Mkpah said.

Mkpah called on the security operatives to be more proactive in combating sea piracy in the state.

“In a very short while we will declare hunger strike in this community because when we can no longer go to sea, we will all be starving.

“If the security in this state cannot rise to the challenge of the people of Ibeno and salvage us from this menace, Ibeno people will die of hunger,’’ he said.

He said that he has officially written to security operatives in the state but no response.

“I have reporter the matter to DSS, Police, Navy and state government and they are all aware and I have sent reports but no response yet,’’ Mkpah said.

Reacting, the Public Relation Officer of the Police Command in Akwa Ibom, ASP. Cordelia Nwawe, said that they were not aware of the kidnap of the eight fishermen in Ibeno.

“They should make an official reports to the Akwa Ibom Command for proper investigations. They should official tell the police, so I don’t have the reports and I can’t comment on it,’’ Nwawe said.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...
Post a Comment
Read more