Fishing communities in Akwa Ibom State are facing hard times as pirates lay siege, abduct fishermen and plunder their sources of livelihood. PATRICK ODEY examines the trend and plights of the fishermen.
Akwa Ibom State is blessed with abundant water resources which serve as a source of livelihood to many people, especially those living in the coastal regions of the state.
In such areas, indigenes and non-indigenes over the years have engaged in various types of water-related businesses such as trading in seafoods, boat making, water transportation and fishing, without let or hindrance.
Sadly, however, these business owners and their business fortunes have recently been threatened due to the nefarious activities of sea pirates who terrorise them at sea, seize their outboard engines and sometimes kidnap them for ransom.
They (sea pirates) harass them oftentimes at gunpoint at sea and forcefully collect their cash.
Our correspondent, reports that the activities of the Sea pirates have crippled the fishing business and other water-related businesses at Ibaka in the Mbo Local Government Area; Ukpenekang, in the Ibeno Local Government Area ,as well as other coastal areas of the state.
A boat owner in Ibaka, Mr Effiong Etim, who said he had lost several of his outboard engines to the activities of the sea pirates, lamented that the attacks had become a recurring phenomenon, as all efforts by security agencies to curb their excesses had yielded little or no results.
He said. “Fishing is our main occupation and the only means of our livelihood, regrettably, we are no longer safe at Sea. I have lost two outboard engines to the activities of Sea pirates and each of these engines cost over N3m. We have tried ourselves and our youths have also tried, but the more we try, the more the pirates attack us. This is our predicament. I am using this medium to appeal once again to the security agencies to sustain their operation at Sea in order to curb these attacks.”
Overwhelmed by these attacks, the fishermen under the auspices of “The watch Out Fishermen Cooperative Society, in Ibaka, early last year, staged a peaceful protest to register their grievances to the state and the federal governments.
The protesters chanted solidarity songs along the length and breadth of Ibaka, in Mbo Local government Area, displayed placards with various inscriptions and called on the President, Major General Mohammadu Buhari (retd), to come to their aid.
Some of the inscriptions read “We are tired of paying ransom’’ “Buhari do the needful” We need security in our waterways”
But despite, the protest, sea pirates’ attacks continued unabated and they have even become more daring in their desperation by resorting to calling on the fishermen for settlement before they can venture into the Sea to carry out their fishing business.
The new chairman of the association in Ibaka, Mr Yusuf Okaijah, a Ghanaian, told our correspondent on the phone that last month, the sea pirates attacked and seized seven outboard engines from his members, adding that they had adopted a method of calling the fishermen for settlement before going to the Sea
He said, “Attacks by the pirates at sea happen almost on a daily basis. Last month, they collected seven outboard engines (40 horsepower), we have not seen them this month. They only come occasionally. For eight years now, we have had this ugly experience at sea and we have been doing our best.
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