TENSION enveloped the city of Port Harcourt, on Tuesday evening, as ex-militant leader, General Soboma George, was murdered by unknown gunmen in the Borokiri area of the Rivers State capital.

Details of the murder were sketchy at press time, but spokesperson of the Rivers State police command, Dr Rita Inoma-Abbey, told the Nigerian Tribune on telephone that the command was yet to be officially briefed, even as she added that the command was yet to confirm if it was actually the ex-militant leader that was killed.

“We just heard too like others. We are yet to confirm whether or not he (George) was actually the one killed as it is being widely circulated. To forestall breakdown of law and order, the command has put in place measures to ensure that security of lives and property is beefed up in the state,” she said.

George was a key factor in the post-amnesty pro-gramme of the Federal Government until his assassination on Tuesday.

He was key commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in the Rivers State axis of the region until he voluntarily disarmed in response to the amnesty proclaimed by the late president, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua.