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| Gunmen. File photo. |
Unidentified gunmen, on Wednesday, attacked a police checkpoint along the Berger flyover in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and took away two AK-47 rifles and injured a police sergeant.
The incident occurred few hours after the killing of a 27-year-old man, who was allegedly shot military personnel in Biogbolo, a suburb of the state capital.
The killing of the young man, according to some residents, may not be unconnected to the alleged snatching of a mobile phone from one of the military operatives at gunpoint earlier in the day.
The attack on the police checkpoint occurred around 11pm during a routine stop and search operation.
It was gathered that the policemen at the checkpoint, popularly known as โCollection Pointโ by commercial tricycle operators, were caught unawares.
The policemen were dispossessed of two AK-47 rifles and a sergeant, who tried to display gallantry, was critically wounded.
At Biogbolo, some soldiers, who were allegedly on a reprisal on behalf of their colleague who was robbed of his mobile phone at gunpoint, were said to have shot and killed a man.
The killing led to protests by youths, who barricaded the Biogbolo end of the Mbiama-Yenagoa Expressway. They noted that the death of the young man was unjust and demanded justice.
The victim was later identified as Who-knows-tomorrow Bright, popularly called Albino. His corpse was said to have been deposited in the morgue by the police.
A resident of the area, who identified himself simply as Frank, said the youth were sitting at a comfortable area when soldiers invaded the community and shot repeatedly, killing Bright and leaving several others injured.
Frank stated, โWe were just sitting and drinking in an area, when soldiers emerged and before we knew what was happening, there was a rain of bullets; some of us ran, others were injured, while one of the youth was killed; another was taken into custody and later released at the soldiersโ headquarters in Igbogene.
โWhat happened was unjust; we did nothing to be fired at; we are calling on all human rights and pressure groups to help demand justice for the innocent victim.โ
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for the state, DSP Asinim Butswat, said he had yet to be briefed about the snatching of the police riffles but confirmed that the body of a young man was evacuated by the police at Biogbolo.
He, however, said the police were not aware if the young man was killed by soldiers.
