Thirteen policemen were feared dead in a boat attack along the creek of Azuazuama in the Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa state at the weekend.
There were opinions pointing at the threat of attacks by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on the nation’s vast oil installations in Delta from mid night of Friday, but sources say the Friday attack which claimed the lives of policemen may have had nothing to do with the threat.
The deceased operatives, a security source said, were heading to the coastal Azuzuama community in the deep mangrove swamp of Southern Ijaw council area when they came under attack. The boat in which they were traveling was reportedly sunk by their assailants, causing them to drown.
The policemen were said to be on their way to provide security at the wake of the mother of an ex-militant leader, but entered into an altercation with his boys over their alleged abandonment.
The ex-militant leader in question, it was gathered, had relocated to Abuja after embracing the Federal Government amnesty leaving behind his boys.
The ex-militant leader, who feared what could happen, was said to have approached the police authorities in Yenagoa for police protection during the burial ceremony.
The assailants, who allegedly heard about police deployment, were said to have laid ambush for the boat conveying the security operatives along the Azuzuama creek, killing thirteen of them while three reportedly escaped.
Police in the state are yet to give an official statement on the incident.
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