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2 feared killed as soldiers, police engage pipeline vandals
From Eugene Agha, Lagos
Two people were feared killed yesterday along the canal at Seventh Avenue, FESTAC Town, Lagos, when suspected pipeline vandals engaged some soldiers and policemen in the area in a bloody shootout.
The victims were said to be among the advanced security team drafted to monitor the activities of suspected pipeline vandals in the area. Daily Trust gathered that the security personnel stormed the canal to set free one of their colleagues that was kidnapped by the vandals.
The soldier that was kidnapped, according to a source close to the security team, was among those on surveillance. He added that since the victim was taken away by the suspected vandals, his whereabouts had been unknown.
Though the police claimed that nobody died in the shootout, a witness said the people of the area started hearing gunshots as early as 5.00am.
A police source at the FESTAC Police Division told our correspondent that the combined armed team of military personnel including the Navy, Army and men from the FESTAC Area E Police Command, stormed seventh avenue to ward off attack from the oil thieves who had for long converted the area into a safe haven for their notorious activities.
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