Suspected oil thieves kill soldier, steal his AK-47 rifle in Bayelsa

By Nathan Nwakamma

Gunmen suspected to be oil thieves have killed a soldier and made away with his weapon in Apoi Community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a similar fate befell a team of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) team on Feb. 4 who lost their weapons during a gun duel with the hoodlums.

Sources in the area said the soldier was on surveillance duty to Apoi Community when he was gunned down on Monday afternoon.

He was said to have been killed in the bush between the boundary of Apoi and Azuzuama communities, where there is a pipeline.

The assailants reportedly carted away his AK 47 rifle, before community folks got to the spot.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Apoi clan in Southern Ijaw have condemned the act, describing it as barbaric and inhuman.

Chief Fidelis Duba, a community leader in Apoi Clan, called on hoodlums operating in the Apoi Creek and other areas to desist from such nefarious activities.

He noted that the act was capable of provoking a retaliation from the military, assuring the security agencies that the clan would work with them to fish out the culprits.

When contacted on the development, the Public Relations Officer, Nigerian Army, 16 Brigade in Yenagoa, Captain Tonye Wenke noted that the Directorate of Defense Media Operations was in a better position to respond.

He explained that such operational incidents were under the control of Operation Delta Safe whose communication line is streamlined to Defense Headquarters in Abuja.