Less than 24 hours after gunmen suspected to be pirates attacked a local boat along the Sangana- Igbemotoru route, another attack which killed a boat operator was reported on Thursday.
The victim of the latest attack is a former chairman of the Akassa unit of the Nigeria Maritime Workers Union simply identified as Suku.
The chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the Nigeria Maritime Workers Union, Lloyd Sese, who confirmed the incident said that frequent attacks by pirates had adversely affected socio-economic activities in the coastal communities in Bayelsa.
He described the death of the former union leader as regrettable and a painful loss to the labour movement in Bayelsa.
He called on security agencies to intensify security patrol on the waterways as the menace is on the increase.
It was gathered that the suspected pirates attacked the passenger boat heading to Yenagoa from Akassa in Brass along Okobotuo, Lagos camp at about 6:30 a.m, Thursday.
Community sources who witnessed the incident from a distance said that the suspected pirates, who shot sporadically to scare the passengers, left the scene without robbing the passengers after noticing that someone has been shot dead.
The Bayelsa Police Commisioner had on Wednesday assured that the command had taken steps to ensure the safety of citizens following directives from the Inspector General of Police.
At least five persons, in the past two weeks, have been shot dead while a female journalist survived a shooting incident in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital.
