Spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, who confirmed the development on Wednesday in Yenagoa, said the incident took place on Monday.
Barely one week after militants ambushed a military patrol boat, killing four soldiers and a civilian in Bayelsa State, gunmen, on Monday, attacked a police patrol team along Kolo Road in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state, killing a Police sergeant and injuring a corporal and a civilian.
The assailants went away with the slain policeman’s rifle.
Spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, who confirmed the development on Wednesday in Yenagoa, said the incident took place on Monday.
Mr. Butswat also confirmed that a police corporal and a civilian were injured in the latest installment of militant attacks in the Niger Delta. He disclosed that the injured corporal and the civilian have been hospitalized.
“The Bayelsa State Police Command wishes to use this medium to inform the general public that on September 4, at about 8:30 p.m., policemen on vehicular patrol along Kolo 2, Ogbia Local Government Area, were attacked by unknown gunmen. The policemen, based on a tip-off, intercepted a vehicle conveying suspected militants. Two of the suspects were arrested and handcuffed, but resisted any attempt by the policemen to search their vehicle,” said Mr. Butswat.
The incident, he added, attracted members of the community, who surrounded the vehicle and rescued the arrested suspects.
Mr. Butswat urged members of the public to assist the Police in fighting crime rather than hinder efforts to rid the society of crime.
Nigerian military troops have been engaged in bloody showdowns with militants in recent times. Three months ago, a Police sergeant was killed in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
