MEND Behind Killing of 4 Marine Policemen in Bayelsa

Posted by admin Armed Forces, Bayelsa, Niger Delta, State News Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

Authorities of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, codenamed “Operation Pulo Shield”, on Friday deployed local divers to retrieve the corpses of its officers, including a lieutenant colonel, who were shot dead on Thursday morning by suspected oil bunkerers, along Brass-Ogbia waterways, in Bayelsa State.

Though, the identities of the slain officers were still shrouded in secrecy, JTF confirmed that the slain lieutenant colonel was the commander of the security outfit in Brass unit.

This is coming on the heels of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), claiming responsibility over the killing of four marine policemen at Nembe, on Thursday.

In a statement posted on its website, which was signed by the group’s spokesman, identified as Gbomo Jomo, MEND stated that “the attack was carried out by our fighters.”

Investigations conducted by the Saturday Tribune revealed that the gunmen, who allegedly killed the security agents during a patrol duty were hired by some suspected oil bunkering syndicates neck deep in the theft of the nation’s crude oil along the shores of the state.

Giving update about the details of the Thursday’s gruesome murder of its men, including four other marine policemen, the media coordinator of JTF, Lt Col Timothy Antigha, who spoke to newsmen, hinted that the security outfit had already declared the slain officers missing, just as it employed the services of local divers to search for their corpses believed to be drowned in the water.

-Tribunewp_posts