Gunmen kill four NSCDC officers in Rivers

Gunmen suspected to be pipeline vandals have killed four personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Obeafor, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local council of Rivers State.

The victims were on duty guarding a major oil and gas facility belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Obeafor when the gunmen who were said to be in military outfit invaded the site and shot them dead on Monday.

Rivers State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mrs. Helen Amakiri said they received intelligence report that some persons were planning to attack the facility and deployed personnel to protect the area.

She added that a signal was sent to men of the Joint Military Task Force(JTF) for reinforcement but they had not arrived before the gunmen attacked the facility.

“It was not as if we did not know that there was a plan to attack because we got the intelligence like three days back and we were on red alert. We had even sent signals to the JTF to help us reinforce and beef up security. Our men were aware when they saw unknown gunmen in military regalia, they thought they were operatives of the JTF. That was how they (gunmen) were able to get through to them and attacked them,” she said.

The Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Mr. Michael Oguntuase confirmed the incident and said those injured had been taken to the hospital for treatment.