By Hauwa Ali
Fishermen at Anuoluwapo seafood market in Lagos are lamenting the incessant robbery attack they encounter while on the high sea and calling on the Federal government to safeguard the sea.
The fishermen in an interview with Naturenews, narrated their encounter with thieves on the high sea.
“our biggest problem in this business are thieves. We encounter thieves most of the times on our way back from fishing. It’s very painful after much work of catching the fishes and spending days or months on the sea,the thieves double cross us on the way and collect fishes and sometimes our engine that powers the boat, so we wont be able to move again until we see another fishing boat to help us leave the sea.” Michael Ofoli, a fisherman said.
On why they could not escape the thieves, Ofoli added: “ we cannot escape them because they use flying boat which is usually faster than our own. Even if we try to run,they would still catch up with us. They have guns and cutlasses. If we refuse to stop they would shoot. They’ve killed some of our members like that.”
Ofoli stated that they go as far as getting to Portharcout or Benin republic for fishing and that the thieves are encountered in Portharcout, Benin republic and sometimes Lagos.
“Our greatest challenge is theft on the sea and we’re unhappy about that. We are only looking for our daily bread. We want government to help us.” Another Fisherman simply identified as John said.
Illegal activities, including drug trafficking, piracy and oil theft has been going on, on the high sea, since time immemorial and the lack of decisive steps by African government is only making matters worse.
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