The incident followed the purported
hijack of a gunboat with the policemen
on board abducted in Abonnema
waterways in Akuku Toru Local
Government Area of Rivers State.
A community source said the gunboat
left Abonnema Wharf Jetty for a routine
patrol when it was attacked by the
suspected armed militants on Sunday.
One of the corpse was seen floating on
Monday with gunshot wounds after the
other three had been recovered earlier,
with the gunboat missing, the source
said.
The Police Public Relations Officer in
Rivers State, DSP Nnamdi Omoni told
Channels Television that the command
had begun compiling its report.
However, the police authority in the
state is yet to issue an official
statement on the incident as at the time
of this report.
This is coming after the military in the
region, in operations to end the attacks
of militants on oil installations, suffered
a setback, losing some officials in a
boat mishap .
A boat carrying the officials capsized
and efforts to rescue them was
hampered by high tides, some residents
of the community that came to rescue
the officials said.
The military has launched two
operations in the region – Operation
Delta Safe and Exercise Crocodile Smile
– to quell resurgence of militancy in the
region that holds the nation’s wealth.
However, splinter groups have continued
to emerge even after a group that has
claimed responsibility for most of the
attacks on oil facilities said it has
a greed to ceasefire and begin
negotiation with the Federal
Government.
Source:Channelstv
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