Aggrieved women of Bille community in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State have stormed the Government House, Port Harcourt, to protest the abductions of eight candidates of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
The students were kidnapped by suspected pirates while in their way from Port Harcourt to Bille to write the external examinations
It was gathered that they were among those abducted on May 6 when the sea robbers hijacked passenger three passenger boats and goods worth millions of naira.
The protesters, who were dressed in black, under the auspices of Concerned People of Bille Kingdom, carried many placards and sang in solidarity to draw the attention of the authorities to their plight.
The placards bore messages such as, ‘Government save us from sea pirates’, ‘Our children going to write WAEC are with the pirates in the bush, some have been raped’, Bille people are suffering in the hands of pirates’, among others.
The protesters were said to have first marched to the State Police headquarters along Moscow Road, Port Harcourt and later barricaded the entrance to the Government House, along Azikiwe Road.
Some of the women lamented that armed pirates also raped their daughters and stole their belongings.
They said the eight students were still held captive by the captors over a week after their abduction.
An elderly woman among them were said to have cried bitterly lying on the ground and pleading with the Sole Administrator, Vice-Admiral lbok Ete-Ibas to locate the hoodlums and rescue their children.
“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 me like this”, she cried.
A lady, who identified herself as Blessing Alale lamented incessant pirate attacks along the waterways.
She recalled that her mother and seven others travelling the same route were kidnapped and forced to pay millions of Naira as ransom before they were freed.
She said: “Sometime ago my mum was a victim. On that day eight of them were abducted and a ransom of N30million was paid. After the N30million they requested we buy fuel (petrol), power banks, bread and water before they will release them.
“We paid all that before they were out. That was then. Now this one on the 6th of this month our children were going to write WAEC in Bille, sea pirates abducted them. How will they attack children that were going to school to write their WAEC, about eight of them.
“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.
Thenation
