Six suspected militants alleged to be terrorising Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) of Rivers State were killed in a gun duel between them and vigilance group in Omoku, Rivers State.
It is presumed that the leader of the militants, Ejima Igwedibia, alias Don Wanny, narrowly escaped being killed.
Sources in Omoku told The Guardian the vigilance group under the aegis ONELGA Security Planning and Advisory Committee (OSPAC) and the militants engaged in a gun duel in Aligwu community in the early hours of yesterday.
The Guardian gathered that OSPAC’s hunt for the militants started after they had allegedly killed two persons at Okposi, four in Omoku and three others at Obrikom respectively over the weekend. Some of the victims were said to be members of OSPAC.
OSPAC members, who are credited to have restored stability to Omoku and parts of ONELGA, were said to have stormed Don Wanny’s residence in Aligwu, a coastal community in the early hours of yesterday. His suspected gang members were said to have engaged them in a fierce gun duel that lasted several hours.
Four persons were killed.
Don Wanny, whose whereabouts is unknown, was said to have escaped with some of lieutenants through a river behind his residence. Though there were speculations that he might have drownede in the river, sources close to him said he was alive.
Hundreds of persons from across ONELGA besieged the council secretariat in Omoku to see the bodies. Many who had anticipated that Don Wanny was among the victims, expressed disappointment that he was killed.
Earlier, Don Wanny and his gang had embraced the Rivers State government’s amnesty offer granted to militants and other notorious criminals last year.
OSPAC’s attack on Don Wanny was averted in October after he rescinded his plan to attack the vigilance group, which killed one of his gang members, who had challenged them in Omoku.
The Chairman, ONELGA, Osi Olisa, who confirmed the killings of the militants, explained that government could not fold its hands to watch miscreants destabilise the council and waste innocent lives.
He gave the assurance the everything would be done to ensure that security of the council was no longer compromised by militants and other notorious gangs that had been terrorisingthe ONELGA since 2013.
The Rivers State Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Nnamdi Omoni, said the information on the incident was sketchy as at press time.
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