ARMED MEN LAUNCH ANOTHER ATTACK IN BAYELSA
The spate of attacks in Bayelsa State continued on Tuesday with an attack on the country home of a political associate of President Goodluck Jonathan and Chairman, Board of the Federal Inland Waterways, HRH Jonny Amatele Turner.
Unlike the attacks that have been witnessed in the state, the five gunmen were said to have stormed Opume in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in two Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and headed straight for the house of Turner.
The gunmen were said to have gained entry into the house through the adjoining fence of Community Comprehensive School and caught the security men on duty unawares.
According to one Benjamin Einighe who identified himself as the chief security officer (CSO) of the building, the armed men dispossessed the two policemen on duty of their rifles before tying them up with ropes.
He said they demanded to know where Turner was in the building and where he kept his money, adding that after they explained that he was in Abuja they left them to ransack the building.
'We told them that Oga is in Abuja and that there is no money in the building. They proceeded to search the whole building and left with some things but we didn't know what.'
A tour around the building revealed that some of the bedrooms were thoroughly ransacked with items and electronics turned upside down.
Turner who spoke on phone from Abuja said he had already reported to the State Commissioner of Police, Elder Onuoha Udeka.
He explained that he was at a loss why some people would want to attack his house and destroy it.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Eguavoen Omokpae, said the police had been informed about the incident but that details were still sketchy.
However, the Action Congress (AC) has raised alarm that Bayelsa State was gradually heading towards a state of emergency if the attacks on homes of political officer holders were not checked.
The state Chairman of AC, Miriki Ebikibina in a statement issued in Yenagoa said the recent attacks in the state which had left about 12 people dead was not only 'terrifying, shocking, barbaric but also 'unacceptable.'
According to him, the reign of terror in the state was pathetic and should not be condoned by a responsible government because it was affecting the lives and property of the people.
He said if the attacks continued, the AC would be forced to demand for a state of emergency since security agents had failed to live up to their responsibility.
The statement reads in part: 'The show of failure by the Nigerian Police and the State Security Service to protect the lives and properties of innocent citizens with the non-arrest of the ravaging scourge that snowballed into a serious security threat to the existing peace in the state has become unbearable and a monumental embarrassment to the president.'