In a swift response to the perennial criminal activities along the Port Harcourt-Bille waterways by sea pirates, the Executive Chairman of Degema Local Government Area, Hon Michael John Williams, has procured and donated two fully equipped 200HP YAMAHA-Powered Surveillance Speed Boats for the effective policing of the Bille waterways and its adjoining creeks.
At a brief handover ceremony, which held at the Council headquarters in Degema, Tuesday, the Council Chairman stated that the move was inline with his administration’s resolve to secure all communities of the LGA, by taking proactive security measures.
Handing over the Surveillance Boats to the Bille Council of Chiefs, the Chairman urged them to ensure that only duly profiled personnel by the security agencies, man the facility in order to avoid criminal tendencies.
He warned that the Council would not support extrajudicial killing of sea pirates, noting that any criminal element apprehended by the Surveillance Team should be handed over to the security operatives for proper prosecution.
While urging the community to make good use of the facility, Hon. Williams stated that what the Council had done in providing the Surveillance Boats, was to complement Governor Wike’s efforts in securing the State for all residents and business ventures.
In his reaction, the member representing Degema Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Anthony Soberekon, commended the Council Chairman for his well-thought initiative in ensuring that the troubled coastal communities in the LGA are well secure.
While describing the Chairman’s move as unprecedented, Hon. Soberekon stated that in less than a month since the Chairman came into office, the people of the LGA have started seeing the dividends of democracy, expressing optimism that as a man of the people, the Council Chairman will do more to make life comfortable for the people of the LGA.
On his part, spokesman of the Bille Kingdom Council of Chiefs and former Caretaker Chairman of the LGA, Alabo Hon. Boma Dappa, while thanking God for the choice of Hon. Michael John Williams as Chairman of Delga, stated that it was a good beginning for the LGA.
He noted that the people of the LGA had never had it this good, adding that truly the people rejoice when the righteous is on the throne.
Hon. Dappa stated that the Council boss, being a grassroots politician, knows the difficulty faced by the people of the coastal communities, especially along the waterways, where passengers experience horror in the hands of sea pirates.
While extending the gratitude of the Amanyanabo, chiefs and people of Bille Kingdom to the Delga Chairman, Alabo Boma Dappa, equally assured that the Bille people will make judicious use of the government’s investment in their kingdom.
Meanwhile, the Delga Chairman has disclosed that his administration had awarded 3 projects in Bakana and Ogruama Communities.
The Chairman made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen at his remodeled office in Degema, shortly after the handover ceremony.
He apprised that the projects which include; the Pedro Compound Memorial Hall and Ekine Sekiapu House in Bakana, as well as the Ogruama Community Footbridge, amongst other projects are to be completed and commissioned within three months to mark his 100 days in office.
