By Samuel Oyadongha

YENAGOA—Civil Liberties Organisation,  CLO and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, ERA/FoEN, have described as alarming,  the recent upsurge in sea pirates’ attacks in the creeks and waterways of Bayelsa State.

Gunmen have been laying ambush to the troubled creeks and waterways of the state killing innocent citizens and security operatives.

It will be recalled that two soldiers were killed on the Letugbene waterways early in the month. Also last Friday, suspected pirates ambushed an oil barge escorted by security operatives and killed a policeman, an operative of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and a civilian before the latest attack on a passenger boat in Okoroma creek during which two persons were killed.

Disturbed by the sad turn of events in the creeks, the state CLO chairman, Alabo James and Head, ERA/FoEN, Bayelsa,  Alagoa Morris, in a statement in Yenagoa, called for the immediate establishment of coast guards in the state with a view to restoring sanity to the waterways.

The statement read, “The activities of sea pirates on our waterways, even on the Atlantic, are too alarming. Even fishing folks and traders sailing on local market boats, travelers on speedboats are not spared. At times like these, the security agencies are expected to do more to protect lives and property.”