Army takes over community – After murder of 12 chiefs

Meanwhile, the oil multinational, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), has evacuated its staff from the Ekulama Flow station, one of the suburbs of Kula kingdom.

A source close to the authorities of the 2 Amphibious Brigade, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, confirmed on Tuesday that the Joint Task Force (JTF) had been dispatched to the area to restore peace.

Though the number of troops sent to the area on Tuesday could not be confirmed, it was gathered that the soldiers took control of the area from early in the morning and had brought the situation under control.

Unknown armed men had attacked a commercial boat with 14 persons on board on Kula waterway late Saturday, killing 12 chiefs and leaving two injured. Reports had it that about seven heavily armed men on board a boat opened fire on the boat carrying the chiefs.

Those killed in the attack were said to be members of a faction a chieftaincy tussle in Kula and that the attackers might have been sent by their opponents. The Police Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State police command, Mrs. Ireju Barasua (DSP), confirmed the attack on Monday.

When reached for comments, a chief from the community, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, said he was not in a mood to respond to the �sad event�. �We know we have a problem on our hands and we have started making moves to resolve it. This is not a good thing to be responding to�, Sara-Igbe said.

In a related development, SPDC, which facilities and personnel in the Niger Delta had repeatedly been attacked by militants, reportedly concluded the evacuation of its staff from Ekulama flow station over the weekend.

A source within the company said there was no link between the evacuation and the recent communal disturbance in Kula as the evacuation had begun long before now and was concluded over the weekend.