Most Perilous Waterway In Delta

According to Vanguard, an investigation by Niger Delta Voice has revealed a shocking revelation about the waterways of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region.

Report of the revelation was made known by the aforementioned group who said the waterways are the most dangerous place to be in the state.

Bayelsa which by its topography, has so many rivers, rivulets, creeks, tributaries and large swathe of mangrove swamps, making it more deltaic than Delta and Rivers state respectively.

Niger Delta Voice showed that pirates and oil thieves in Southern Ijaw area have made the waterways of the state unsafe, while the Joint Task Force, JTF, Bayelsa State Police Command, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Bayelsa state and other security agencies have also revealed that they have engulfed in a battle with armed gangs.

According to the Public Relations Officer, NSCDC, Dauzuo Izonfate, Southern Ijaw is most notorious in the region, adding that almost the whole local government area, not only Azuzuama and Lobia, are notorious for criminal activities, especially bunkering, pipeline vandalism, sea piracy and illegal petroleum refineries.

He said the criminal activities are common and widespread in these areas and have gradually become a part of life of the people and in some cases a means of livelihood.

Izonfate also stated that the Command had in the course of its operations in the area, destroyed over 680 illegal local refineries, while scores of arrests had also been made, pointing out that executors of the illegal acts are not just ex-militants that were left out of the amnesty programme, but also cult gangs and locals, lured to the illicit trade on account of its lucrative nature.