Seven Killed As Pirates, Security Officials Clash In Ondo
No fewer than seven persons have been confirmed dead while others sustained injuries as a result of a gun duel that erupted between a private security outfit operating in the coastal area of Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Gallery Security Service, and suspected pirates on Sunday, 3 August, 2014.
Thisday reported that victims of the clash included four officials of Gallery Security Service and three alleged pirates.
It was gathered that a fierce battle ensued between both sides when the suspected pirates, who came from Igbimo area of Edo State, attacked some coastal communities before they were challenged on their way by men of the private security outfit at Bolowo junction.
A resident in the community where the clash occurred informed that two bodies of the suspected pirates killed had been recovered from the water, while one was still being searched for.
While speaking with newsmen on the incident, the Head of Gallery Security, Osaghale Aklugbemen, stated that the pirates escaped through Oroto-Ajapa Road.
According to him, the hoodlums, who invaded the community at about 8am on Sunday, were coming from the Ilaje end of the coastal area of the state, where they had gone for an operation.
He said men of the Gallery Security made several attempts to resist the bandit but were overpowered.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Gallery Security Services, Chief Bibopere Ajube, revealed that the robbers had been terrorising the coastal area for the past two years.
He disclosed that his men arrested some of the hoodlums last year and handed them over to the police in Ese-Odo, lamenting that the activities of the group was yet to reduce in spite of intense monitoring in the area.
Among the items Ajube listed that they recovered from the hoodlums included two guns, 260 live ammunition, 10,000 Korea currency, 80 Euro, $24, N4000, one Nokia mobile phone with SIM cards, one 75 horse power engine boat and one Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card issued by the United Bank for Africa (UBA).
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Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Ondo State Command, Mr. Wole Ogodo, gave the name of the deceased Gallery Security officers as Elemi Obilu, Alimi Zeblon, Idowu Ajaiba and Ofoetitan.
He added that divers were employed to recover the bodies of the dead, saying that six of the bodies had so far been recovered, while one was still being searched for under the water as investigation into the issue had started.
It would be recalled that similar incident happened in Bayelsa state last month whenscores of people were killed following a gun battle between security operatives and suspected sea pirates.
It was reported that officials of the marine components of the Bayelsa State Police Command and soldiers attached to the Joint Military Task Force, code named Operation Pulo Shield engaged the suspects in a fierce gun fight at about 2.00am in an oil rig operated by Lone Star Drilling Company in Gbarain and Ogbeinbiri communities of Southern Ijaw.
The state police commissioner, Hillary Okpara, and JTF spokesperson, Lt.Col.Anka Abdullahi, had confirmed the incident, adding that the incident occurred when the suspects who were about five in numbers tried to take over a flow station in Ogboinbiri.
Source: Legit.ng
