Nathan Tamarapreye
Unknown 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.
It will be recalled that a similar fate befell a team of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) team on February 4 who lost their weapons during a gun duel with the hoodlums.
Armed gangs frequently ambush military operatives deployed to guard oil facilities in the creeks of Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas to harvest their arms and ammunition.
It was gathered from sources in the area that 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.