By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—Three soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, code-named Operation Pulo Shield, have been reported missing and presumed killed during an attack on their gunboat on the waterways of Bayelsa State by suspected pirates.
JTF authorities said it was premature to conclude that the missing soldiers were killed.
The tragic attack, it was learned, occurred at 4p.m., at Santa Barbara, a river in Nembe Local Government Area of the state, notorious for pirates’ activities.
According to sources from the coastal mangrove, the pirates also hijacked a military gunboat after the attack.
The soldiers were reportedly ambushed and killed by the pirates, who have been terrorizing the waterways in recent times.
Piracy has assumed frightening dimension in the coastal enclave of the state where commuters and the fishing folks are constantly attacked and robbed of their cash and other valuables.
Though it could not be confirmed, Vanguard learned that only last week some pirates were nabbed by the disturbed natives in a renewed effort to rid the area of the rampaging hoodlums.
It was learned that the soldiers, victims of the latest attack, were escorting items to Brass terminal owned by Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC when the gunmen opened fire on them.
They were sailing from Port Harcourt, Rivers State to Brass, Bayelsa State, when the attack occurred.
