Militancy, piracy slow down marine transport on River Niger ―NIWA

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) says militancy and sea piracy slow down marine transportation on the dredged 572km stretch of the lower River Niger.

Mr Tom Shaba, Head of Survey, NIWA Port Harcourt Area Office, stated this in a chat with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Shaba said the actions of the criminals had negatively affected the economic development in the communities on the bank of the River Niger.

He said that marine activities only improved slightly after the dredging of the river.
“Marine transport is not encouraging because of the constraint of the militancy and sea piracy and not the depth of the river”, he said.

According to Shaba, NIWA has notified the relevant security agents to arrest the situation.
“Recommendations have been made, and essentially, we have been engaging and partnering with security agents to find solution to the problem.

The head of survey urged government to put more efforts to checkmate the activities of the sea pirates.