Gunmen allegedly involved in oil bunkering, on Sunday night, reportedly ambushed and killed the Community Development Committee (CDC) chairman of Igbomotoru 1 community in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa.

According to reliable community sources, who confirmed the incident to journalists in Yenagoe on Monday, the CDC chairman, Goodnews Manash, was ambushed behind the community’s school compound at about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, while visiting his brother.

Igbomotoru, rich in crude oil deposits and famous for ruthless militants and crude oil thieves, has had a series of intra-communal clashes, which have forced many indigenes into exile.

A community leader, who pleaded anonymity, said the assailants gained access to the town through a forest at the back of the community.

“This is because we have military checkpoints on our waterway, which made it impossible for them to come in speedboats.

“There was no hint that the gunmen involved in illegal activities, unchallenged, especially crude oil bunkering, would strike. They had been driven out of the community by the Nigerian Army.

“And angered by that, they plotted and killed the CDC chairman, who was working hard to restore peace in our community,” he said.

Confirming the incident, the community’s paramount ruler, Ayibaikie Ofongo, said, “Between midnight and 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, somebody from the community called to inform me that gunmen have abducted the CDC chairman.

“It was not until daybreak that I got concrete information that he was actually assassinated.

“I can confirm that he is dead, but we intend to have a meeting at the community level before we issue an official statement to the public,” he said.

The press secretary to the chairman of the Southern Ijaw LGA, Ayibaetare Easterday, said he got wind of the incident on Sunday.

Mr Easterday condemned the gruesome attack, saying “such an incident has put the community and LGA in a bad light before the international community”.

He said, “The story is true, but he was not killed in his house. He was killed close to another person’s compound, where he was going to visit.”

Several attempts to reach the spokesperson for the state police, Musa Mohammed, including phone calls, were unsuccessful.

(NAN)