Some gunmen have abducted Chief Gbalipre Turner, the father of the Chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Mr Ebinyon Turner.
It was gathered that the bandits took him away from his residence around the Samphino Road in the Kpansia area of the state capital, Yenagoa, around 11pm on Sunday.
A spokesman for the state police command, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday. Butswat said detectives chased the abductors to the Onuebum waterfront, also in the Ogbia council area, but they escaped with the victim in a speedboat.
He said, “Policemen responded swiftly and pursued the kidnappers to the Onuebum waterfront, where they abandoned the vehicle used in the kidnap and whisked away the victim in a speedboat.”
Meanwhile, the state command of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have lost one officer each after gunmen attacked operatives of the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo, on Sunday.
Butswat said the incident happened at the Okarki Junction in Yenagoa, where the operatives engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel.
He said, “On September 5, 2021, around 8.30pm, operatives of Operation Doo Akpor, at the Okarki Junction, came under heavy fire by unknown gunmen. The gallant operatives engaged the hoodlums in a shoot-out and repelled them from attacking the nipping point.
“Unfortunately, a police sergeant and an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps sustained fatal gunshot wounds, which led to their death.”
The police spokesman added that the state Commissioner of Police, Eworo Echeng, had ordered a manhunt for the hoodlums, assuring that the victim would be rescued.