Four soldiers have been reportedly killed as suspected gunmen said to be sea pirates on Sunday attacked an oil barge along the waterways of Lutegbene Community in Ekeremor local government area of Bayelsa state.
A community source told Journalists on Monday that the gunmen, who accosted the oil barge along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean killed four soldiers escorting the barge and two civilians onboard.
Other crew members in the ill-fated vessel were said to have escaped with gunshot wounds by diving into the water and swam to the nearby settlement for safety.
The incident has caused panic in Lutegbene community, as military officers were said to have mobilised to the area asking residents to produce the perpetrators.
Daily Trust learnt that some angry soldiers have allegedly started burning some houses in the area following inability of the locals to identify the suspects.
It was gathered that soldiers were escorting the barge from Port Harcourt in Rivers State to Warri in Delta State when it came under attack on the coast of Atlantic Ocean.
“The soldiers were escorting a barge when gunmen appeared on speedboat and opened fire on them. They killed four soldiers and two civilians. Others were injured.
“As I am talking to you, soldiers are burning down some houses in the area because they asked the residents to produce the killers.”
The spokesman for the Joint Military Taskforce protecting oil facilities in Niger Delta region, ‘Operation Delta Safe’, Major Olukoya said he was not aware of the incident.
“You know, I just take over as the spokesperson of the command, I will find out and get back to you,” he said.
It would be recalled that soldiers had in January burnt down a community in Ekeremor local government area few days after see pirates attacked and killed soldiers onboard a vessel on the Atlantic Ocean.
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