Pirates Abduct Four Market Women In Bayelsa

Suspected pirates, on Tuesday, reportedly attacked a boat ferrying market women along the Lobia/Foropa waterways in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, kidnapping four traders and dispossessing others of cash and valuables.

The victims, part of a group of 12 women, had departed from the Swali Ultra-Modern Market jetty in Yenagoa en route to interior markets in the area when the gunmen struck, and seized four of the passengers and took them to an unknown location.

Reacting to the incident, Selekaye Victor-Ben, a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing Southern Ijaw Constituency 4, condemned the abduction as a “cowardly attack on innocent citizens” and called for urgent security interventions.

“This barbaric act is a grave threat to the peace and economic stability of our constituency,” said Victor-Ben, who also chairs the Assembly Committee on Human Rights.

He further said, “I stand in solidarity with the families of the victims and urge the state government and security agencies to ensure the safe and immediate release of the abducted women.”

The lawmaker called for intensified patrols and surveillance on Bayelsa’s waterways and insisted that the region’s residents deserve safe passage in the course of daily commerce and transport.

When contacted, Bayelsa State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Musa Mohammed, said he was yet to receive full briefing on the incident.

“No update yet. I’m trying to make a preliminary inquiry into that. I just heard about it, I haven’t confirmed it,” he told THE WHISTLER.

Pirates Abduct Four Market Women In Bayelsa is first published on The Whistler Newspaper