The thugs reportedly opened fire on the soldiers, injuring five others. The attack came ahead of tomorrow’s legislative rerun across the 23 local government areas of the volatile Niger Delta state.
The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Capt. Eli Lazarus, who confirmed the “barbaric act”, which heightened tension in the state, revealed that the soldiers were in pursuit of the criminals, who he said would surely be apprehended.
Capt. Lazarus said: “At 11 am on March 17, 2016, troops on patrol along the waterways in the general area of Abonnema had a fierce encounter with a group of unknown gunmen, suspected to be sea pirates.
“Our men displayed extraordinary gallantry during the encounter. Unfortunately, an officer and a soldier, who sustained various degree of injury, lost their lives.We are in pursuit of the criminals and we will surely get them. All law-abiding citizens are urged to go about their lawful activities. The army will continue to make necessary sacrifices to ensure sustainable peace, security of lives and property of all.”
Also yesterday, gunmen stormed Mgbuitanwo in Emohua, Emohua Local Government Area of the state, where the Rivers East senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Andrew Uchendu, hails from, killing and beheading a 28-year-old man, identified as Ukeoma.
The gunmen, who laid siege to the community, according to sources, abducted another resident.
In a broadcast in Port Harcourt yesterday, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, declared that the reign of terror across Rivers State, leading to senseless killings, would no longer be tolerated, admonishing the electorate to vote for all the APC’s candidates.
Amaechi, a former Rivers State Governor, noted that the security agencies had been directed to ensure the safety of everybody before, during and after the elections. He urged residents to come out and exercise their rights to vote.
He reiterated that the last time the elections were held, members of the APC were “brazenly, crudely and violently” prevented from exercising their inalienable right to elect the persons they wanted.
The minister said: “The same characters and forces that stole our votes, by violently denying us the right to vote the last time, are at it again. In the months and weeks leading to this Saturday’s elections, they have employed the use of violence and threats to lives as tools of intimidation and harassment, all aimed at preventing us from coming out to vote.
“They have turned our hitherto peaceful state into a haven of brazen criminality, culminating in killings and maiming of innocent citizens.
“It is gratifying to note that the Commander-In-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari, has assured the security of lives and property in the state before, during and after the elections. Mr. President has graciously provided adequate security through the length and breadth of the state.”
Amaechi, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), described as “illegal”, the public holidays declared by the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike on yesterday and today, which also affected banks and schools, both private and public.
The minister called on all Rivers people not to submit to any form of intimidation and threat, maintaining that coming out to elect candidates of their choice on March 19 is their constitutional right and civic responsibility.
The former governor declared that no one could stop the people from exercising their right to vote, assuring them that their safety would be guaranteed.
The Rivers APC Publicity Secretary Chris Finebone, said Wike, a former Minister of State for Education, declared the work-free/non-banking days for the polls, to deceive members of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Finebone said: “As part of Wike’s ploy to woo voters across Rivers State, he had repeatedly announced that N2 billion had been set aside for disbursement to beneficiaries of the state’s microfinance loans, in support of PDP candidates in the rerun elections.
“With no fund available for the purpose, the Rivers governor ordered the 23 local government caretaker chairmen to deposit N4.5 million each to the Chairman of Rivers State Microfinance Agency last week.
“Considering the paltry nature of the total amount collected, compared to what is required, the governor and his men instead decided to announce Thursday and Friday as work-free days, going into Saturday rerun elections.
“The idea is that prospective beneficiaries of the loans, who already have been notified, will be persuaded to still vote for PDP candidates, believing that after the elections, they will begin to collect their loans from Monday.
“However, the government of Nyesom Wike has other plans for them. There will be no loan to be disbursed to anyone, as fresh stories will be advanced after Saturday’s elections and that will be the end of the loan arrangement.”
The APC’s spokesman also asked all the PDP members and others, who had been promised the loans to forget the deceit and massively vote for candidates of the APC.
Wike raised the alarm about alleged attempt by the police to arrest the state’s Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, before the rerun, which he described as politically motivated and aimed at giving advantage to the APC. This, he said, would be resisted.
Wike said by declaring wanted the caretaker chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Sabomabo Jackrich, aka Egberipapa, who is a militant “General” the police might have been influenced by political considerations.
The ex-minister of state for Education claimed that his administration had uncovered plans by some politically-motivated individuals to ensure that card readers fail in parts of the state, especially in his Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
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