The ancient island of Bonny, Rivers State, which has in the recent past become a haven for militants, has been taken over by soldiers, who now conduct a house-to-house search for gunmen.
Also, banking activities in the area have remained suspended, apparently due to the threat by the militants that non-natives should quit.
The development has forced bankers, most of them non-natives, to remain at home since Wednesday.
Bonny Island, also the host community to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), might soon turn to a ghost town following unchecked armed attacks being launched by gunmen operating as sea pirates or militants.
Saturday Independent investigation revealed that there has been an exodus of people in the last two weeks as a result of what appears to be an imminent armed attack by persons believed to be either cultists or militants.
In notices placed on walls of buildings all over the place, non Bonny origins were given up to Tuesday, July 15 to leave the town or face undisclosed severe consequences and, since then, people have been moving out of the place in droves to save their lives.
In recent times, gunmen with their sophisticated weapons have held residents of the town hostage through raids overpowering many soldiers and other security operatives who lost their lives in the attacks.
On Thursday, those who could no longer remain on the island had to flee, although sea pirates continued to terrorise the sea route and attack travellers.
Saturday Independent learnt that the soldiers who have taken over the streets of Bonny are beginning to make life uncomfortable for residents and natives alike.
There were fears that many innocent people might also suffer in the hands of the soldiers in the process.
A housewife on Wednesday night saved her husband from being taken away by the soldiers when her crying stopped the men in uniform from harming the man.
It was learnt that the soldiers were on routine search in homes on the island when some suspicious movements were noticed. It was in the process of trying to check the occupants of a house owned by a security guard with a firm based in Port Harcourt that the man attempted to run.
He was about to be shot when his wife cried out and identified him as her husband. She knelt before the soldiers and wept, as she pointed to her husband and repeatedly shouted that he should be spared because he was not a militant.
A similar fate is experienced in other parts of Bonny, where the soldiers are trying to chase the militants out of town.
But it was not clear if they had succeeded in challenging them in the waterways.
By Thursday, a traveller on the route told Saturday Independent that life was still harsh for travellers.
The pirates, according to the source, were still terrorising the travellers. He said some people were robbed of their valuables on the sea route on Thursday morning and abandoned at one of the creeks.
They were rescued when a distress call got to Port Harcourt. Earlier in the week, boat operators had suspended services along that route because of the constant attacks on them by pirates.
However, the state government on Thursday, vowed to ensure that lives and property were protected in Bonny. The government said community leaders and traditional rulers must be involved in peacekeeping efforts in the area.
The state information commissioner, Ogbonah Nwuke, told Saturday Independent that there was the need for the natives to expose the hoodlums who were causing mayhem in Bonny.
To him, “it is a moral question. It is not enough for us to say we want government to do this and that. How about what you can do to stop this madness?”
He said the government could resolve to go after the locals, including the leaders if they were found to be sponsors of the various cult groups.
Nwuke lamented the pains that non-indigenes were being subjected to in Bonny but restated the government’s willingness to protect the people.
The commissioner confirmed that more soldiers had to be deployed in Bonny to tackle the crisis.
He said the soldiers would remain there until normalcy returns.
“We are insisting that strangers are safe in our midst. The armed forces are not there to threaten law-abiding citizens. We have said in the past that we expected all those who were part of the law breaking machines to get out of the way.
“We had pleaded with the people and we got no response. Now, we have entered a new phase. We have entered the phase of peace enforcement and that is what is going on in Bonny. We advise those who may want to flee Bonny to remain calm.
“We are in touch with the locals and they have not given us any indication that things are getting out of hand.”
He ruled out the possibility of the declaration of emergency situation in the area.
The Ijaw Youths Congress (IYC) has, however, warned President Umaru Yar’Adua not to succumb to the temptation of starting a war in Nigeria through massive deployment of troops to the Niger Delta.
President of the IJC, Chris Ekiyor, noted that the massive deployment of troops and naval ships into the region is a direct invitation to a full-scale war as the youths might be forced to retaliate should the troops fire at them.
According to him: “We use this medium to call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to allow reason to prevail and resist the temptation to start a civil war in Nigeria. As he continues to increase military presence in the Niger Delta, this is an infringement on the fundamental right to life of the citizen.
“The presence of warships in the Niger Delta territories and the continuous increase in the battalion of soldiers is an indication of war and this is certainly going to provoke a response from armed groups,” he added.
The IJC leader, who expressed regret at the government’s response to the challenges poised by events in the Niger Delta, added that “the youths, who the IJC have been pacifying to drop their arms, are now likely to attempt to fight back in self-defence.”
Ekiyor, who said his position represents the outcome of a conference by IYC, added that the body language of the President is indicative that “Yar’Adua was not really different from other former Nigerian leaders including Olusegun Obasanjo.”
According to him, “the President is still paying lip service to the issue of the Niger Delta because one year into his administration, he still retains the excess crude account, under-funds the Niger Delta Development Commission and maintains a high military presence in the Niger Delta.”
Worried by this development, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bala Hassan, in a recent radio broadcast said that more equipment and firepower would soon be supplied to assist the force on ground to maintain law and order in the area.
Some Bonny residents, who managed to escape from the town to Port Harcourt city recounted their ordeal to Saturday Independent, lamenting that the place had been under siege from gunmen who attack innocent members of the public at will.
Most travellers who leave Bonny to Port Harcourt using the sea as the only rout have abandoned the Port Harcourt- Bonny direct route for more dangerous routes that cut through unsafe creeks from Bonny to the Ogoni axis before making it to the state capital city. Even at that, most of these travellers have lost cash and valuables to sea pirates who are seen as masters of these creek routes.
Up till the time of this report, Saturday Independent observed from the Abonnema- Bonny route axis that Bonny residents have continued to flee from the town rendering economic and commercial activities to near zero-level.
The situation is that boats transporting foodstuffs and other commodities to the island often come under attack.
Those who managed to escape to the Port Harcourt city expressed fear that nobody could guarantee the safety of NLNG as its workers are bent on leaving the trouble-infested island.
No one could say how long Bonny would remain under siege even though no group has yet claimed responsibility over the numerous attacks on the island and the deadly sea piracy incidents.