Ikang youths in the Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State yesterday appealed to Governor Bassey Otu to provide them with speed boats and motorcycles to enable them to check the threats posed by pirates and other criminals wreaking havoc in the area.

Youth Leader Linus Asukwo-Basey made the appeal in his position paper presented during a town hall engagement in Bakassi. According to him, the lives of youths in the area “are now on the line due to the fight which we launched against criminal characters in the area”.

He said: “The speed boats and motorcycles will assist us go after criminal elements hiding in the creeks as well as patrol the upland communities at night to forestall any form of emergency attack. “Our lives are at risk due to the fight against criminality and we are determined to go after those perpetrating atrocities along the waterways and upland communities in the area.”