At the Government House in Port Harcourt, women from the Bille community in Rivers State’s Degema Local Government Area have protested for the release of eight students who were kidnapped by suspected pirates while on a boat from Port Harcourt to Bille to take the current WAEC exams.
Recall that on May 6, 2025, alleged pirates abducted 13 persons from three boats carrying property and products valued at millions of Naira in the Port Harcourt-Bille waterways.
In response to the incident, Israel Pepple, the Chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria in the Port Harcourt Commercial District, declared that they would halt transportation in order to force the government to take the required steps to safeguard the waterways against what he called “incessant” pirate attacks.
Wearing black clothing, the women representing the Concerned People of Bille Kingdom held a number of placards and sang songs to emphasize their demands.
“Government save us from sea pirates,” “Our children going to write WAEC are with the pirates in the bush; some have been raped,” and “Bille people are suffering in the hands of pirates” are a few of the inscriptions on the posters.
Before ending the demonstration at the Government House on Azikiwe Road, the women marched to the State Police headquarters on Moscow Road in Port Harcourt.
According to some of the ladies who told reporters, the highly armed pirates also raped their daughters and stole their possessions.
They stated that the eight students are still in the hands of their captors over a week after they were abducted along with five other passengers in a boat.
While in front of Government House, one of the protesters, an elderly woman, flung herself to the ground shouting, “Government please help me my son is inside the River (creek). Sea pirates took him inside the bush. Government please help me bring my son, don’t leave like this.
Speaking to newsmen, a lady who gave her name as Blessing Alale decried the many pirate attacks in the waterways, even as she recounted how her mother and seven others travelling on the same route were kidnapped and forced to pay millions of Naira as ransom before they were freed.
Alale expressed sadness at the recent abduction; the students among those abducted have already missed their exams.
“My mother was a victim a while back,” she said. Eight of them were kidnapped that day, and N30 million was paid as ransom. Before they released them, we purchased dream fuel (petrol), power banks, bread, and water with the N30 million they asked for.
Before they left, we made all of those payments. That was back then. Our kids were supposed to write WAEC in Bille on the sixth of this month, but the sea pirates kidnapped them. How are they going to assault the eight or so kids who were attending school to write their WAEC?
The other time they will say they are adults, but these are children going to write WAEC. Their siblings are writing the exam. So it means that these children have missed out on all the papers that have been written.”
Alale continued, “That is why the women, the mothers are here, I’m also a mother and have come out to say enough is enough. These mothers of the abducted one and the entire mothers of Bill are here seeking for help so that these children will be released to join the others.”
In her address presented to a government House official, one of the leaders of the protest, Janet Adebayo, said, “On 6th May 2025 along the Port Harcourt –Bille Waterways a speedboat carrying 13 passengers was intercepted by heavily armed pirates who diverted them into the creeks.
“Since then, all abducted persons remain missing, leaving their families in a state of deep distress and uncertainty.
“This tragic incident marks yet another escalation in the persistent security threats along our waterways and endangers the lives of commuters and the socio-economic stability of riverine communities, especially Bille Kingdom in particular.”
She added, “In the light of this, this is an urgent appeal for intervention in the activities of sea pirates and formal submission to the Rivers State Government. We humbly appeal to the Nigerian Police, the Army and the Navy for urgent intervention by deploying patrol units to intensify surveillance and rescue operations.
“Additionally, we request your support in working with relevant security agencies to ensure the safe release of the kidnapped victims and prevent further attacks.
O.I. Gabriel, the Camp Commandant at the Rivers State Government House, spoke to the women and commended them for their composure while promising to take prompt action.
“The Chief of Staff received instructions from the Sole Administrator, and the Chief of Staff now directed me, as the Camp Commandant, to come and speak to you,” Gabriel said.
Even as he urged the women to go back home, he said, “And that I should collect the letter from you for immediate action to be taken in respect of the letter,” promising that their letter would reach the Sole Administrator and that something would be done about it.
Grace Iringe-Koko, the state police command spokesperson, told reporters that the inquiry is still ongoing to make sure the people who were kidnapped are freed safely.
“We have stepped up our efforts to make sure that the offenders are apprehended and brought to justice,” she said.
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