Six travellers kidnapped along the Bille-Port Harcourt waterway in Rivers State have revealed they paid a combined ransom of N28 million to secure their release after spending 12 days in captivity.
The victims, five men and one woman, were abducted on April 4 near the New Calabar River while travelling from Bille Kingdom to Port Harcourt.
Narrating their ordeal in Port Harcourt on Friday, one of the victims, Ibikura Biobele, said they were ambushed by armed sea pirates and taken into a forest, where they were tortured, blindfolded, and starved.
“They beat us and told us they resorted to kidnapping because government stopped them from engaging in oil bunkering,” Biobele said. “They gave us only dry garri to chew — no water. We drank saltwater to stay alive.”
He added that the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million but later settled for N28 million after intense negotiations with the victims’ families.
“We begged them and they finally agreed to release us after collecting N28m. It was by God’s grace we came out alive,” he stated.
The victims criticised the government’s failure to secure the waterways and called for urgent action.
“There is no protection on our waterways. Government must deploy gunboats not just in the open ocean but inside the creeks where these attacks happen. Or let the communities protect themselves like before,” Biobele said.
The abduction underscores the growing insecurity in riverine areas, with residents calling for stronger intervention to curb sea piracy.
