NEW YEAR HORROR: Militants kill 16 - 30 houses razed

Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt - 02.01.2008

IT was a bleak New Year day for residents of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as Tom Ateke's men took on policemen leading to the death of 16 people.

Also, more than 30 buildings and other properties were destroyed in an inferno a few minutes to the New Year in Port Harcourt. Nigerian Tribune gathered that some hoodlums, numbering about 25 and conveyed in three vehicles, attacked police stations in different parts of Port Harcourt.

Among the hoodlums killed in the Borokiri encounter, according to a report, was the second in command to Tom Ateke. The renewed attack was launched barely 24 hours after the Rivers State government lifted a curfew which had been imposed on the city since August 14, 2007, following two weeks of disorder all over the city.

Addressing journalists on the New Year day incident, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, confirmed that the hoodlums attacked two police stations; Trans-Amadi police station and Borokiri police station, two police patrol teams and the Hotel Presidential.

According to the police commissioner, trouble started at midnight when the hoodlums attacked a patrol team at the Artillery Junction area, injuring two policemen. The hoodlums reportedly left Artillery for the Trans-Amadi police station where they met a team of policemen on stop and search duty, opened fire on them, killing one Inspector.

During an exchange of fire outside the station, a bullet from the assailants went into the police station and killed a 25-year-old mentally ill man, whose family members had taken to the station for protection for the night. Another police officer was reported wounded in the attack.

Leaving the Trans-Amadi police station, still within the Trans-Amadi jurisdiction, they ran into another patrol team, shooting the driver of the vehicle. The driver was said to be responding to treatment in an hospital.

From Trans-Amadi, they headed for the Hotel Presidential, where they allegedly forced their way in and shot up the lounge of the hotel. At the end of the attack, they killed one of the senior security officers of the hotel, wounded a guest, who was the winner of the maiden West African Idol, Mr. Timi Dakolo.

They then headed for Borokiri police station, where they met the stiffest resistance, which led to the death of six of their members. "They boarded their vehicles and headed to Borokiri police station, down town here and that is where they met their Waterloo. I won't know how many they were, but I want to imagine that the bus must have carried close to 10 people and the two cars, may be on the average, four each, so we are talking of about may be close to 18 people.

"As they approached the station, my APC at the police station took them head on, ran into the three vehicles and that demobilised them. They came down infuriated and decided to open fire on the APC. They moved into the police station and also threw dynamite into the police station. At the end of the day, they killed three more policemen, bringing the number of policemen killed to four; two inspectors, a sergeant and one constable," Ogbaudu said.

He said further that having been over-powered by the police at Borokiri, the hoodlums took to their heels, taking their injured colleagues with them and escaped through Ndoki Waterfront. Also speaking on the incident, the spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, said the number of the hoodlums was 25.

He corroborated the report that six of the hoodlums were killed in the Borokiri encounter, alongside three other civilians. He also added that an Army captain on pass was injured in one of the attacks and had been taken to the military hospital for medical attention.

Meanwhile, the cult leader, Tom Ateke, who had recently come under military attack in the Okrika area of the state and who had earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum to government to replace his properties that were destroyed in military attacks, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In an online statement sent by one of his aides, Mr. A. E. Pere, in Port Harcourt, he said "the Niger Delta Vigilante is claiming responsibility of all the attacks on the military and the destruction of government properties and oil installations in the state, including the one that took place this (Tuesday) morning.

"Our actions are predicated on the renewed zeal of the Niger Delta people to fight against the oppression and injustice meted out to our people by the Nigerian state. This became our last resort since the government decided to truncate the peace process," the statement said.

In another development, more than 30 buildings and other properties worth several millions of naira were on Monday night destroyed in an inferno caused by spilled petroleum products in Port Harcourt.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that a loaded tanker, marked U.C Transport, bearing the colour of a petroleum company, was being chased by a 'task force', and fell when trying to make a U-turn. According to some of the victims of the fire incident, the accident happened at about 8:00 p.m. on Monday. They said they heard a loud noise from outside and discovered that a tanker had spilled its content and with fire consuming everything on its way.

Though firefighters from Nigeria Agip Oil Company and the Rivers State Fire Department made efforts to contain the inferno, it had razed close to 30 houses in two rows before they came.