Posted by By Emma Amaize on
A gang of dare devil armed obbers, Thursday night in Warri kidnapped a serving Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy, shot dead a Police Constable and an unidentified young man.
A gang of dare devil armed obbers, Thursday night in Warri kidnapped a serving Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy, shot dead a Police Constable and an unidentified young man.
The bandits who have been terrorising Warri, Effurun and environs in the past few weeks, released the top Naval officer who was abducted on his way home from a church service along Airport Road in Warri in company of his wife at about 8pm.
The Police Area commander for Delta Central confirmed the killing of the constable by the robbers but said he had not been officially briefed by the Divisional Police Officer about the the Commanding Officer.
The constable, Weekend Vanguard gathered, was killed by the robbers who fired at a police patrol team between 8.00pm and 9.00pm.
"They blocked him (Commanding Officer) with a Mercedez V-boot 190 car as the car was about to negotiate the West End Road. I think they wanted to change their car because the owner of the Mercedez car that they were operating with was in the car. They told the officer and his wife to lie down and killed the young man, who apparently knew them", an eyewitness stated.
The robbers reportedly ordered the Commanding Officer to enter his car and they drove him to other parts of the town, where they continued with their operation, shooting at the police at some checkpoints to escape.
The Naval Officer was held hostage by the robbers throughout their operation and he was only released when the robbers felt it was safe for them to do so. There was pandemonium in the West End area for a better part of Thursay night as traders in the areas closed shop while the residents locked their doors and windows.
Men of the Nigerian Navy got to know that their boss was involved in the incident when his horror-struck wife ran home and signals were raised immediately to alert other security agencies. The Commander of the Joint Military Task Force on peace in the Niger Delta, Brig. Gen. Elias Zamani was said to have led a search party for the robbers.
Reports said that the Naval boss was later seen along the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Road where the bandits abandoned him and his Honda car. The team accompanied him back to his house.
Navy information officer in Warri, Lt. J. Omodara could not be immediately reached for comments but the underworld men continued with their escapades, yesterday, in Effurun.