Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
Gunmen have reportedly killed a soldier
attached to the Joint Force in Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, and
abducted two expatriate workers in Bayelsa State.
It was learnt that the incident occurred
on Tuesday morning during a shoot-out along the Ogbia-Nembe road in
Nembe Local Government Area of the state.
The development was said to have thrown
the residents of the roadside between the Opume Junction area of Ogbia
LGA and the Bassanbiri/Ogbolomabiri area of Nembe into pandemonium.
An eyewitness said the soldiers, who were attached as security details to personnel of a construction company were ambushed.
“The soldiers guarding the construction
company’s personnel on the site came under heavy attack from the bush.
It was an ambush and before they could know what was happening, the
gunmen opened fire on them. It was a surprise attack,” the eyewitness,
who craved anonymity, said.
Some of the Indigenes of Nembe, who were
returning to Yenagoa en-route Opume road, were said to be caught in the
early morning shoot-out.
A Hilux (utility vehicle) driver,
identified simply as Monday, said, “It was like a movie scene. The
soldiers were shooting and the gunmen were also shooting.
“We later saw signs of blood everywhere
when the soldiers removed their blood soaked colleague. The soldiers
were able to rescue some expatriates from being abducted by the gunmen.”
Attempts to get confirmation from the
spokesman of the Bayelsa Police Command, Asimin Butswat, failed as his
phone did not connect.
But the Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, OPS, Col. Ado Isa, denied knowledge of the incident.
“Not confirmed. No such report at our disposal at the moment,” Isa stated in a terse text message.
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