Pirates assassinate five-year-old girl, shoot speedboat driver in Bayelsa

Gunmen alleged to be sea robbers have attacked a speedboat and murdered a five-year-old girl in Bayelsa State. The deceased, identified as Comfort, her sibling and their mother, Lovina Isegu, were allegedly aboard the speedboat with six other passengers. They were traveling from the Swali Market Waterfront in Yenagoa, the state capital, to Koluama 1 and 2 in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state when the incident happened around 5pm on Wednesday. It was gathered that the pirates opened fire on the speedboat while the driver was trying to abscond after sighting them as they approached Koluama. The state Chairman, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Mr Ogoniba Ipigansi, confirmed the attack, adding that the boat driver, Mr Okilo Orubiko, was also shot. According to him, Orubiko had serious gunshot wounds but managed to steer the boat and the passengers to Koluama 1, where he was taken for medical treatment. Ipigansi said, “We are calling on the state and federal governments to pay serious attention to the security of lives and property of drivers and passengers travelling on the waterways. “We particularly urge the government to immediately do something to address the porous security in these areas as lives and property are no longer safe on the waterways.”    ,,