Military Kill 4 Pirates in Bayelsa Creek.
Operatives of the Joint Force in the Niger Delta code named ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ have killed four suspected sea pirates in a shoot out along the creek of Bayelsa State.
The shoot out, occurred Monday, at about 1.30pm along the Kperegbene and Obama axis of the Nembe creek in the East Senatorial district of the state.
A soldier was however shot in the leg during the gun battle.
It was gathered that the sea robbers, had been terrorizing passenger boats plying the route when they encountered a military gunboat on routine patrol of the area.
The hoodlums, on sighting the troops reportedly opened fire but were overwhelmed by the superior fire power of the soldiers.
According to a security source, four of the sea robbers were killed in the shoot out while the others fled into the mangrove forest.
“The hoodlums attacked the soldiers but were repelled. The troops gunned down four of the hoodlums in the exchange of fire. But one of the soldiers, a private, was also wounded.
“The hoodlums on realizing the fire power of the soldiers beat a quick retreat to the mangrove where they know the gunboat cannot go after them because of the shallow water,” the source said.
Contacted, the Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre of the OPS, Col. Isa Ado, said though the incident occurred close to the Obama station in Nembe LGA, “the troops during a routine security patrol, came across some suspected sea pirates in 200 horsepower boats. The suspects attempted to escape but our men engaged them.
“Our troops opened fire and the sea pirates retaliated. The fire power of our troops with two gun boats overwhelmed them and they escaped into the creeks. They took their injured away. Four of the pirates were seen shot and they went away with the bodies. Their boats were badly damaged.”
Ado also disclosed that the security outfit has intensified its stop and search operations as well as patrol of the waterways to rid the region of criminality.”
