Insurgents in the Niger Delta drew the first blood in the escalating security situation in oil-rich region Wednesday night when a band of armed persons attacked a military house boat in a creek near Omadino community, Warri South council area of Delta state, killing 7 people, including 2 soldiers.
It was gathered that five boats, loaded with heavily armed insurgents, stormed an isolated boat house, located inside the creek around Omadino, an Itsekiri community, at about 8:00pm, opened fire on the occupants, killing all those aboard, except for one civilian, who reported died later while being taking to the hospital.
There was yet to be any claim of responsibility by either the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the insurgent group, which had in recent times pitted itself against the federal government by destroying oil and gas facilities or any other group for that matter.
Reliable sources, all of whom preferred to be kept anonymous, confirmed the development, some with more detailed facts than the others.
A community source, said the attack happened at about 8:00pm, claiming all occupants of the boat, whom he thought to be soldiers, were killed.
“An army security house boat was attacked and all the security men inside were killed last night, at Omadino by pipeline here. This happened around 8 in the evening”, he said.
Another source, from one of the military formations in Warri, however revealed that the house boat was not all soldiers, but that there were civilians, who render different types of services aboard.
A military source from Warri, who confirmed the development, said that two soldiers and five civilians lost their lives in the attack.
According to the source, although outnumbered by the assailants, the remaining soldiers who were left on the boat when the attackers came gave their best by giving a frantic fight, adding that the assailants did not leave without a bloody nose.
“The report is true. They came in five speed boats, they were many and unfortunately when they got there, some of the soldiers were on pipelines patrol. When the attackers got there, the man on sentry did his best and the rest, but unfortunately, because of their number they opened fire to kill the civilians inside the house boat. There were four civilians and two soldiers, making six.
“The seventh person, who happened to be a civilian, was rushed to Oghara (the Delta State University Teaching Hospital), getting to Oghae, they found out that the hospital was on strike. Before he could be rushed back to Warri, his situation had deteriorated; you know the distance between Warri and Oghara that was how he gave up the ghost.
“Our people also got some of them down, but as they wouldn’t like to leave any of their casualties behind, we can’t ascertain, but the soldiers tried their best in reducing their number”, the source said.
However, efforts to get the Commanding Officer of the 3 Battalion, Effunrun Barracks, Major Monday Anzaku and the Army Public Relations Officer (APRO) of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Benin, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu, for confirmation and comments were unsuccessful as both men were unreachable.
