BREAKING: ANGRY DELTA SOLDIERS INVADE A COMMUNITY IN BAYELSA AND OPEN FIRE ON THE RESIDENTS, KILLING 11 PEOPLE.

The shooting of roughly sixteen soldiers and officers at Okuoma Community in Delta State last weekend is said to have resulted in the deaths of eleven inhabitants of the Igbomotoru community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
The Nigerian Army stormed the Bayelsa hamlet, shooting at the locals and demolishing three homes thought to be the hideaway of a terrorist leader who was allegedly responsible for the deaths of military personnel on a Delta State rescue mission.

According to a source who talked with Daily Trust, soldiers in five gunboats stormed the neighborhood, firing at people lounging on the jetty before setting fire to the three buildings thought to be the insurgent leader’s refuge.

He claimed that although they were still looking for more bodies, the community had been able to collect eleven corpses after the incident.

The source said, “The military invasion has affected the people gravely. Lives have been lost, properties have been destroyed. Even after the attack, I am sure that life in that community can never be the same.

“This weekend was scheduled for the burial of one my late uncles. We had paid for food, drinks, music, speedboat and canopies. And now because of this, the burial can no longer hold.

“In fact some of the people we paid money are saying that if the date changes, we would have to pay extra money. Is that not a huge loss on its own? So we would have to start looking for more money, that is if there will ever be peace in the community.

“I am appealing to the Federal and State Government to as a matter of urgency intervene in this matter. We do not have a hand in whatever transpired in Delta State. The international community should come to our aid.”

As at the time of filing this report, the spokesman for Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) headquarters, Major Adenegan Ojo, is yet to comment on the latest development.