Insurgents in the Niger Delta drew the first
blood in the escalating security situation in oil-
rich region Wednesday night when a band of
armed persons attacked a military house boat
in a creek near Omadino community, Warri
South council area of Delta state, killing 7
people, including 2 soldiers.
The Nation gathered that five boats, loaded
with heavily armed insurgents, stormed an
isolated boat house, located inside the creek
around Omadino, an Itsekiri community, at
about 8:00pm, opened fire on the occupants,
killing all those aboard, except for one civilian,
who reported died later while being taking to
the hospital.
There was yet to be any claim of
responsibility by either the Niger Delta
Avengers (NDA), the insurgent group, which
had in recent times pitted itself against the
federal government by destroying oil and gas
facilities or any other group for that matter.
Reliable sources, all of whom preferred to be
kept anonymous, confirmed the development
to the Nation, some with more detailed facts
than the others.
A community source, said the attack
happened at about 8:00pm, claiming all
occupants of the boat, whom he thought to be
soldiers, were killed.
“An army security house boat was attacked
and all the security men inside were killed last
night, at Omadino by pipeline here. This
happened around 8 in the evening”, he said.
Another source, from one of the military
formations in Warri, however revealed that the
house boat was not all soldiers, but that there
were civilians, who render different types of
services aboard.
A military source from Warri, who confirmed
the development, told the Nation that two
soldiers and five civilians lost their lives in the
attack.
He said most of the men stationed at the
house boat had gone on pipeline patrol when
the attackers came.
According to the source, although
outnumbered by the assailants, the remaining
soldiers who were left on the boat when the
attackers came gave their best by giving a
frantic fight, adding that the assailants did not
leave without a bloody nose.
“The report is true. They came in five speed
boats, they were many and unfortunately when
they got there, some of the soldiers were on
pipelines patrol. When the attackers got there,
the man on sentry did his best and the rest,
but unfortunately, because of their number
they opened fire to kill the civilians inside the
house boat. There were four civilians and two
soldiers, making six.
“The seventh person, who happened to be a
civilian, was rushed to Oghara (the Delta
State University Teaching Hospital), getting to
Oghae, they found out that the hospital was
on strike. Before he could be rushed back to
Warri, his situation had deteriorated; you know
the distance between Warri and Oghara that
was how he gave up the ghost.
“Our people also got some of them down, but
as they wouldn’t like to leave any of their
casualties behind, we can’t ascertain, but the
soldiers tried their best in reducing their
number”, the source said.
However, efforts to get the Commanding
Officer of the 3 Battalion, Effunrun Barracks,
Major Monday Anzaku and the Army Public
Relations Officer (APRO) of the 4 Brigade of
the Nigerian Army in Benin, Captain Jonah
Unuakhalu, for confirmation and comments
were unsuccessful as both men were
unreachable.
News from the nations news paper
Comments