Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
The All Progressives Congress, APC in Rivers has identified the two passengers killed in attacks by pirates on boats along Dema Abbey waterways in Bonny as its members.
The party identified the two victims of the pirate attack as Ibifubara McDonald Banigo and Tamunodienye Allison in a statement issued by its Bonny Chapter.
“Late Ibifubara McDonald Banigo and Late Tamunodienye Allison met their untimely deaths when the speedboat they were travelling in, on their way back from Dema Abbey community, was attacked by hoodlums suspected to have come from a neighbouring town.
“Other passengers on board the boat and other boats were reportedly assaulted and brutalized with ruthless-abandon by the assailants,” the party said in a statement signed by the Chairman of its Caretaker Committee, Bonny Chapter, Hon. Ene Longjohn.
The party also condemns what it called the mindless acts of brigandage and terrorism being perpetrated by hoodlums on the Bonny marine corridors.
The party noted that Bonny kingdom, which used to be the safest and most secure citadel in Rivers has now become a theatre of bloodshed, where indigenes and residents sleep with their two eyes open.
“The recent killings of Ibifubara McDonald Banigo and Tamunodienye Allison have reignited the question of the whereabouts and fate of five Bonny sons, now known as Banigo 5, who were abducted during a funeral ceremony at Banigo Ishile-Ogono on September 12, 2020.
The party further to call on the federal, state and local governments as well as security agencies, multinational companies operating in Bonny and the traditional leadership to take decisive and collaborative measures to stop further killings and attacks on Bonny.
It added that the tolerance and patience of Bonny people have obviously been stretched to the limits while admonishing leaders of neighbouring communities to Bonny Kingdom to call their youths to order against further provocative onslaught on Bonny people before the situation could ossify in inter-communal hostilities.
The party also commiserated with the families, relatives, friends, colleagues and associates of the slain youths, as well as the entire Bonny kingdom over the tragedy.