Outcry as Sea Pirates raid Oron, attack fishermen, seize 10 outboard engines

By Ofonime Honesty

The troubling issue of sea piracy in the riverine communities of Akwa Ibom State has escalated with spate of attacks in recent months, the latest being a raid of the Oron sea in the early hours of today, Wednesday.

Two fishermen (name withheld), who reached out to our correspondent, spoke soberly, saying they were met by heavily armed pirates, forced to sail to the shore, before their outboard engines numbering 10, money, mobile phones and fishes were seized and uploaded on their (pirates) operational speed boat.

They lamented that frantic phone calls made to the naval authorities yielded no results as they failed to show up throughout the period of the attack.

The affected fishermen complained that despite persistent appeal to relevant authorities to wade into the situation, the criminals have continued to ply their illicit trade without hindrance.

According to them, it got to a point that the pirates compelled them to pay monthly 'understanding levy', but explained that such did not ameliorate the situation.
"If you pay money to Group A, when Group B, or Group C comes, they will still attack and rob you. It is like that. We are helpless at this point. Please use your media channels and tell the world about what we are passing through."

The fishermen also accused traditional rulers in Oro Nation of being less-concerned about their plight.

Of late, piracy has affected the once booming fishing and transportation businesses in the riverine areas.
Commuters were recently abducted and forced to make a recorded video plea to their relatives to pay ransom for their release.

The pirates usually demand for and collect ransom for some of the seized engines. In some instances, they waste no time in selling off the engines.

A brand new outboard engine currently costs between 8 million Naira to 9 Million Naira while a fairly used one goes for between 3 Million Naira and 4 Million Naira depending on the horsepower rating.

Naval spokesperson Lieutenant Dike has always denied claims of pirates' attack in the state.
She was however yet to respond to the latest development as at the time of filing this report.

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