| It was a bloody Christmas celebrations in Port Harcourt as no fewer that six civilians and two policemen were killed while an entrepreneur was abducted in two separate incidents in the State. Five of the deaths took place at Elelenwo in the outskirts of Port Harcourt when two rival groups clashed following the outing of �nwatam� masquerade. In the end, five people lay dead while several others were injured by stray bullets as the two sides resorted to use of dangerous weapons. As at yesterday, at least two of the dead were still lying on the streets while those caught in the crossfire are seeking medical attention. Movements in the area remain restricted as police frisk everyone who ventures out of his home. The death of the two policemen was said to have occurred when some unknown people went to the No. 22 Elelenwo street, GRA, of a man simply referred to as Georgewell, scaled his high walls and entered his compound to abduct him. In the process, other members of the gang shot sporadically into the air to scare people while those that entered the compound busied themselves killing his security dogs and his gateman. By the time they abducted Georgewell who has a tarpaulin company in D-Line and put him in their car boot to escape, some policemen said to have been attracted to the scene arrived to challenge them. In the shootout that followed, two of the policemen were feared shot dead while the gang successfully escaped to Eagle Island with their captive. �At about 12 midnight on December 25, some people came to this place with automatic weapons and started shooting sporadically. On a closer look, we found that they came with ladder and that while some were busy shooting, some used the ladder to scale the fence with barbed wire on top of it. �After they jumped into the compound, we heard the dogs barking and some more shots, then silence. They later opened the gate from inside and dragged someone who we later learnt was Georgewell into their boot. Before they left, police arrived and they shot at the police before escaping�, a source who claimed to be at the scene said. When THISDAY visited the home of the abducted man, it looked deserted while bullet holes were still visible on the ash coloured walls close to Skippers and Happy Bite, two popular eateries in the area. When called for confirmation, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bassey Inyang confirmed the abduction but denied that two of his men were killed in the process. Pressed for more details, he said he was yet to get all the information on the attack but confirmed it happened. Also, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Mrs. Ireju Barasua confirmed the Elelenwo clashes but pleaded that she was yet to have details even though she admitted that some people were killed. |
Dec272006