Pirates Kill three JTF Soldiers in Bayelsa

Gunmen suspected to be sea pirates attacked and murdered three soldiers attached to the Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, on the waterways of Bayelsa State.

The suspected pirates in the vicious operations on Sunday evening, also hijacked a military gunboat after killing their victims.

It was also learnt that the pirates laid ambush on the soldiers and killed them at Santa Barbara, a notorious river in Nembe area of the state.

The victims were said to be escorting some items sailing from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to Brass terminal owned by an international oil company when the gunmen opened fire on them in Bayelsa State.  “They were ambushed by deadly pirates.  And It is suspected that the gunmen either hijacked the gunboat, later killed the soldiers and threw their dead bodies into the water or they shot and pushed them into the water before stealing the gunboat.

“The gunboat appears to be the target of the hoodlums, especially as arms were being stockpiled by militants for 2015. The Santa Barbara, where the incident took place is in Nembe. It is a hotbed for pirate activities in the state.”