On July 1, being the beginning of the 2nd half of 2019 and precisely 108 days to the governorship election in Bayelsa State, a pregnant policewoman and three other officers on duty were killed by gunmen that invaded a Police Station at Agudama-Ekpetiama in Yenagoa Local Government of Bayelsa State.
Four others were injured and are currently receiving treatment at the state-owned Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri.
According to the report, earlier published in Vanguard, the heavy gunshots from the invaders numbering about nine, who stormed the serene settlement through the River Nun at about 2a.m in two speedboats, caused panic among the natives.
Among the officers killed was the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Ola Rossana, while the pregnant policewoman’s name was given as Joy Wellington.
Though the motive of the attackers could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the gunmen ransacked the Police station, looted the armoury and carted away unspecified number of arms and ammunition. The gunmen were said to have taken the DPO to the armoury and ensured they took all the guns and ammunition before they forced him to kneel and killed him. A source said:
“Thereafter, they moved from one room to the next searching for policemen believed to be hiding in the rooms. It was in one of the rooms they killed the pregnant policewoman identified as Joy Wellington. “Two other policemen on patrol in the community heard the gunshots, rushed down to the station, engaged in a gun battle with the gunmen and inflicted bullet wounds on them. They suffered wounds and are now in critical condition at the hospital.” The remains of the slain officers have since been deposited at the morgue of the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital. Another source, who preferred anonymity, also told journalists: “No civilian was killed during the attack, because there were no detainees in the cell of the station.
“The attack happened at about 2.15a.m and lasted for about an hour. We saw that several guns, ammunition and Police uniforms were carted away by the gunmen.”
Although the spokesman of the state police command, Asinim Butswat, was yet to comment on the incident at press time, it was the subject of discussion among men of the command.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered a massive manhunt for the gunmen. The Police chief, in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, vowed that “no stone will be left unturned towards apprehending the perpetrators and bringing them to book.” To this end, he ordered “immediate deployment of crack detectives from the IGP-Intelligence Response Unit, IRT; Forensic and Homicide sections of the FCID and special operatives of the Marine Police Department to Yenagoa, to complement the efforts of Bayelsa Police Command in carrying out discrete investigation into the unfortunate incident.”
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