Suspected militants in the early hours of Thursday attacked an army formation at Ogbogbagbene community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State killing a soldier and an unidentified person while others sustained various degrees of life threatening injuries.
The incident has heightened tension within and around the community which serves as a transit point for commuters travelling to other riverine communities in the hinterlands of Bayelsa and Delta States.
The formation which is stationed a few meters from the Ogbogbagbene boat jetty, was established during the height of militant activities to stem the tide of militant attacks in the area and is the second attack on army personnel in Delta State in the last 13 days.
Though spokesperson for the Joint Task Force (JTF) codenamed Operation Safe Delta, Abubakar Abdulahi promised to find out details of the incident when contacted, he was yet to do so as at the time of this report.
Confirming the incident, a source in the community said the hoodlums invaded the formation at about 2a.m and overpowered the soldiers whom were caught off guard by their assailants.
“We heard gunshots at the scene of the incident at about 2.am this morning only to release that the army formation was under siege,” a female resident staying a few kilometers from the scene of the incident said.
Giving details of the incident, a security source in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “I can’t confirm if they are militants or just hoodlums, but they (assailants) killed an army personnel, injured orders and carted away arms and ammunition including a military gunboat.
“The remains of the soldier has been deposited at the morgue of the Bomadi General Hospital while others are receiving medical attention at an undisclosed hospital.”
Appealing to security operatives to use caution in the hunt for the hoodlums, the councillor representing, Tamingbe Ward 4 in the Bomadi legislative council, Angodi Akpo said: “The community is on siege for now.
“Everyone is apprehensive and is locked indoors over the likely action of the military following the attack. I am calling for caution on the part of the Nigeria military as they should use their intelligence to fish out the perpetrators of this act whom have since fled the area after the attack rather than harassing innocent residents in the area.”
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