from The Guardian
Militants killed 12 persons in Port Harcourt on Tuesday when they attacked police stations and the Hotel Presidential located in the River State capital, the Police Commissioner in the state, Felix Ogbaudu, has said. The attack came barely 24 hours after the Rivers Government lifted a curfew in the state. Ogbaudu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the militants launched the attack between midnight and 3 a.m. and attacked the Borokiri and Trans-Amadi Police stations.''At the Borokiri station, three policemen were killed in a shoot-out with the militants. Seven civilians who were either returning from church or milling around their neigbourhoods were also killed,'' he said.
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The Commissioner said the police killed some of the militants, recovered three assault rifles and one machine gun from them. He added that the militants abandoned three vehicles with which they operated. Ogbaudu said that at the Trans-Amadi police station, one Police Inspector was killed when same militants opened fire on the station. He said the militants also attacked Hotel Presidential and opened fire on the hotel's lobby, killing a security man and wounding several others. ''We are still collating the casualty figure,but it was indeed a bloody new year eve in Port Harcourt,'' Ogbaudu said. Worried by the development, Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers is said to have summoned a security meeting to review the security situation in the state.
A similar incident occurred last April when militants attacked the Mini Okoro and Elelenwo police stations in Port Harcourt and killed seven policemen. In August and on December 25, 2007, militants destroyed the Okrika police station with dynamite, while three policemen were killed when militants attacked the Akinima police station in the Ahoada West Local Government area of the state.
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