The Bayelsa State government has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on its waterways as part of measures to curtail sea piracy, kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state.
The curfew on water transportation is effective 7p.m. to 6a.m.
The government also imposed a ban on the use of 200- horsepower speed boats.
These measures were announced, Monday night in Yenagoa at the end of the State Security Council meeting chaired by Governor Douye Diri in Government House.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters I, Mr. Akpoebi Agberebi, while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting said, henceforth, no permit would be granted for the use of 200-horsepower engines, warning that violators would face the full weight of the law.
He, however, said there would be concession for emergency movement during the curfew hours while calling on Bayelsans to feel free to report perpetrators to the state security outfit, Operation Doo-Akpo, on its dedicated phone lines.
Agberebi also said the council resolved that communities whose lands had been acquired by the state government should desist from any form of protests.
He said that some communities still parading as landlords have been constituting nuisance by taking the laws into their hands and depriving other citizens freedom of movement.
Earlier in his charge to the newly posted Commissioner of Police to the state, Mr. Benjamin Okolo, Governor Diri expressed the optimism that by his profile, he would add value to the state by curbing crime and criminality.
Diri urged the new police boss to synergise, collaborate and partner sister security agencies and the state in particular to achieve zero tolerance in crime.