Posted by Segun James, Yenagoa for THISDAY on
Dare-devil Ijaw youths, in a commando-like operation invaded an offshore oil facility belonging to an indigenous oil company.....
Nigeria: Ijaw Youths Kidnap 4 Naval Officers
This Day
Dare-devil Ijaw youths, in a commando-like operation invaded an offshore oil facility belonging to an indigenous oil company, kidnapped four of the naval men on guard duties, and made away with all the rifles they could find.
The youths, said to be about 50, invaded the platform in four speed boats, brandishing assault rifles and forced the naval men to surrender before taking them away to unknown destination.
THISDAY gathered that the attack on the oil facility located in Sangana, a community off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, caught the security operatives napping, as there have been what look like a semblance of truce between the oil companies and militants in the last few weeks.
This is the second time Brass youths and the oil company would be embroiled in a face-off.
Contacted, Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger Delta Operation Restore Hope, Brigadier General Alfred Ilogho, said the area is not under his jurisdiction, and directed THISDAY to "contact Port Harcourt."
However, the Bayelsa State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim, said he has not been officially briefed on the incident.
THISDAY checks revealed that the oil company got into murky waters when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the people, without involving the state government in the deal.
The MoU was said to been hurriedly signed in Lagos, at its headquarters.