Gunmen (file photo)

 Police also confirm  abduction of  three passengers, Driver of Port Harcourt bound bus from Lagos

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Police in Rivers State have confirmed that the members of Icelander cult group on a reprisal attack invaded Bakana Community Degema local government area of Rivers State on Tuesday night killing of two persons

 The  gunmen, under the cover of darkness, at about 10 pm yesterday, Tuesday, invaded the sleepy coastal community of Bakana in Degema local Government area  leaving not less than seven persons missing while also carting six speed  boats away.

DSP Nnamdi Omoni, the  Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for the Rivers State Police Command confirmed the invasion assuring that the Marine Police had been deployed to the area.

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that members of the Icelander cult group invaded the community and carried a serious attack on the residents. Members of the Marine Police department have deployed to the area. We have some clues we are working on to unravel the attackers. But we have been to establish that they were cult members who came on revenge attack on speedboats to launch that attack.

Earlier the Youth President of Bakana in Degema local government area, Comrade Francis Dike ,who narrated the incident said several persons are missing after the invaders stormed the community shooting sporadically unchallenged.

He said the surprise invasion of Bakana caught residents off guards forcing them to look for places to  hide for safety throughout the period of invasion.

Dike  said some families reported cases of missing persons with traces of blood littered in front of their houses as though they were dragged along before taking them away in their getaway boats. They are not sure whether those abducted persons are alive or dead.

He also claimed that six speed boats have also been declared missing after the invasion making it difficult for people to travel in and out of the communty as their only means of transportation is through the waterways and on boats.

He added that the residents of the community are now unable to go for fishing, Markets or School.

 “Yesterday night at bedtime, unknown to them yet-to-be identified invaders were already in community shooting sporadically into the air forcing residents to run to safety places.Nobody could challenge them because we don’t have security people on ground. They did whatever they wanted to do.

“After they left four young men were missing. How people were able to notice were the traces blood stains may be that of the missing persons who were probably dragged out on the floor to their waiting speedboats packed at the jetty.  Other speedboats belonging to members of the community were also carted away.” Francis Dike said.

Micheal John Williams, a former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairmanship Aspirant of Degema local government and also from Bakana community said three persons were confirmed dead after last night’s attack and that the recent is one of several others as there are no security in Bakana.

He advised the Degema local government council Chairman,Dr Tony Philmore  to summon a stakeholders security summit to profer solutions not doing enough to provide security in the area.

Police have also confirmed that three passengers, including the driver Port Harcourt bound bus from Lagos were abducted yesterday.

During the incident, interstate travelers on the East-West road had their journeys disrupted for about a half an hour due to a robbery incident around the Oduoha axis of Emohua local government area on Federal highway.

Rivers state is one of the state 21 states that the UK government warned their citizens not to visit in their latest travel advisory.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has called on members of the European Union for technical assistance in the area of security.

He made the call when the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria,  Ketil Karlsen on Tuesday during a forum of the European Union Heads of Missions in Abuja in a presentation titled: “Understanding current political and security situation in Rivers State in particular and Niger Delta region in general”.