Another ferry operator has been killed by gunmen on the Yenagoa-Akassa waterway in Bayelsa, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The incident occurred barely 24 hours after the killing of a boat operator on the Sangana- Igbemotoru waterway on Dec. 13.

Community sources told a NAN correspondent in Yenagoa that the latest killing took place at Okobotuo, near Akassa in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa early on Thursday.

The victim of the attack was identified as the former chairman of the Akassa Unit of the Nigerian Maritime Workers Union.

His name was given simply as Mr Suku.

Confirming the development, the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Chapter of the Nigerian Maritime Workers Union, Mr Lloyd Sese, said the deadly attacks were crippling economic activities in coastal communities in the state.

He described the death of the former union leader as regrettable and a painful loss to the labour movement in Bayelsa.

Sese pleaded with security agencies to intensify security patrol on waterways to check the recurring killings.

A source, who claimed to have witnessed the latest killing, said the assassins shot sporadically to scare away onlookers before killing Suku.

The source, who pleaded, anonymity said that the killers did not collect anything from the victim after the killing.

On Dec. 14, the commissioner of police in Bayelsa announced that the command had taken steps to ensure the safety of citizens, following frequent killing of residents of the state.

No fewer than five people have been shot dead in Bayelsa in recent weeks, according to records.

A female journalist survived an armed robbery attack in Yenagoa a few days ago.

Bayelsa, which is rich in oil and gas, has been a hotbed of militancy and abductions of mainly oil workers for decades. (NAN)