JTF recovers bodies of slain Lt Col., others

The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta code-named Operation Pulo Shield has recovered the bodies of its Commander, Brass Unit, Lt. Col. A. Malik, and other operatives killed by unknown gunmen along Ogbia and Brass waterways in Bayelsa State.

The JTF, which has arrested the operator of the speedboat conveying the soldiers to Ogbia waterside when the incident happened, has also begun a manhunt for a militant leader, Mammy Water, linked to the killing of the soldiers and five other policemen.

The officers, including three naval ratings were killed in two separate attacks by unidentified gunmen who operated on speedboats along the Bayelsa State waterways on Thursday morning.

The JTF had on Friday declared the affected officers missing and employed the services of local and naval divers to search for them.

Our correspondent learnt that their remins were found and retrieved by the JTF on Saturday and immediately conveyed to the mortuary of an undisclosed hospital.

Following preliminary investigations into the killings that rattled security formations in the state, the operator of the ill-fated speedboat identified as Samuel Amos, a native of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, was apprehended by the JTF.

A source from the task force told our correspondent that Amos was taken to the JTF headquarters on Friday.

The source, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said Amos was interrogated and detained by the JTF.

During interrogation, Amos was said to have told the security outfit that the gunmen who carried out the attacks were masked, therefore, it was impossible for him to know their faces.

“After attacking the boat, the gunmen arrested me and took me to a particular point in the river and asked me to jump into the water. That was how I escaped,” he was quoted as saying.

But the JTF was said to have intensified search for Mammy Water who refused to embrace the amnesty programme of the Federal Government, having served in the camp of the former militant leader, Victor Ebikabowei Ben, popularly called Boyloaf.