Gunmen Abduct LG Chairman’s Father, Kill Police, NSCDC Officers in Bayelsa

By Olusegun Samuel

Suspected gunmen last Sunday night killed two security operatives at the nipping point at Okarki junction in Bayelsa State after the security agents came under unexpected heavy gun fire from the bandits.

The attack left a police officer and an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ((NSCDC) dead.

Though the operatives, who are from the Joint Task Force codenamed ‘Operation Doo Akpor’, repelled the attack and prevented the gunmen from attacking the nipping point, the gunmen, however, escaped into the creeks.

In a separate incident, gunmen suspected to be kidnappers in the early hours of yesterday stormed the residence of a People Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Gbalipre Turner, and abducted him.

Turner, a former PDP state treasurer and father of the present Ogbia Local Government Area chairman, was abducted at his residence in Sampou Road in Yenagoa, the state capital, and taken to a unknown destination.

It was gathered that policemen responded swiftly and pursued the kidnappers to Onuebum waterfront, where they abandoned the vehicle they had, and whisked away their victim on a speedboat.

Confirming both incident, the spokesman of the state Police Command, Asinim Butswat, said the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng E. Echeng, has ordered for a manhunt to rescue the kidnapped victim and arrest the fleeing gunmen.

The CP further appealed to members of the public to volunteer useful information that would assist the police in its investigation.

According to him, “On September 5, 2021, at about 2030 hours, operatives of Operation Doo Akpor at Okarki junction came under heavy fire by unknown gunmen. The gallant operatives engaged the hoodlums in a shoot-out and repelled them from attacking the nipping point.

“Unfortunately a police sergeant and an operative of the NSCDC sustained fatal gunshots wounds, which led to their death.”