Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday invaded the Port Harcourt home of an oil magnate and former chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition, Chief Olu Lulu-Briggs, and kidnapped his wife, Seinye, killing a security guard.
Briggs is the chairman of Moni Pulo Limited, an indigenous oil prospecting company with a production capacity of 15,000 barrels per day.
A source told our correspondent that the gunmen stormed the Igbodo Street residence of Lulu Briggs in Old Government Residential Area, at around 2am.
As soon as they arrived, the source said the assailants started shooting sporadically and detonating explosives suspected to be dynamites at the main gates to Briggs� house.
The rampaging gunmen, it was further learnt, shot at the policemen, on duty before they cordoned off the house and two neighbouring compounds along the street.
He said, �The shooting was so intense that we were undecided on whether to escape from our house or remain indoors. As some of them were shooting and detonating dynamites, others ransacked the compound.
�They were barking orders at the occupants of the house and shooting guns in quick succession until they left the area. In the morning, we heard that the wife of the chief was taken away.�
Another source said that the gunmen had dragged Seinye from her bedroom with her bedclothes on while also injuring one of her daughters.
He said that while the siege was on, a security guard at a compound close to Briggs residence peeped at the gunmen through the window and was spotted.
According to the source, the assailants immediately riddled the security post with bullets and the lone security man, who was identified as Useni, was killed instantly.
He said that in spite of repeated calls to law enforcement agencies, none responded until the gunmen had finished their operation and left the area.