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From Ben Dunno, Warri
The age long boundary dispute between neighbouring Aladja community in Udu Local Government area and Ogbe-Ijoh indigenes in Warri South-West Council area, reared its ugly head in the early hours of today, as one person was killed and few others injured during a bloody clash.
Investigations revealed that the casualty figure would have risen more than this but for the timely intervention of officers and men of 3Battalion, Effurun Barracks under 63 Brigade Operation in Asaba, Delta state, who immediately mobilised to the scene to bring sanity to the area.
Sources closed to the scene of the incident identified the deceased as one Frank Amakiri, a middle aged man said to be an indigene of Ogbe-Ijoh community who was reported to have been shot at a close range by suspected warring Aladja youths.
Others items recovered on the deceased include; One fabrique Nationale (FN) rifle mounted with a magazine loaded with 9 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition, one expended ammunition case and an infinix mobile phone set.
On further investigation by the soldiers, a suspect identified as
Micheal Amakiri, said to be the biological brother of the deceased was found and arrested within the vicinity of the crime scene and was interrogated on the role they played in the incident that led to his brother’s death.
It was gathered that his Tecno phone recovered from him was later seized for analysis in line with the ongoing investigations.
According to the source, “The fragile peace that had existed in both communities after the creation a buffer zone by the state government two years ago seems to be experiencing some hiccups, following allegations of trespasses by the indigenes of both communities for sometimes now”.
“This issue however escalated at the weekend as both parties alleged oppression of their people in the whole arrangement. This however resulted into violent attack by the warring youths of both sides which led to sporadic gun shootings that was experienced in the very early hours of today”
Continuing; “The entire area had been thrown into a war theatre till about 5;30am when we saw troops of the 63 Brigade, under the Operation Delta Hawk of the 3Battalion, Effurun Barracks arriving in the communities to restore sanity and bring some kind of confidence to the indigenes who had started running helter skelter since the shooting started”.
“But for the swift intervention of the soldiers, the situation could have been worsened as the warring youths from both sides had been waitng for an opportunity to unleash their anger on each others”, the source hinted.
Meanwhile, the military Commnad of the 63 Brigade, Asaba, has ordered the continued stay of the Delta Hawk Operatives and other sister security agencies in the area to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
It was learnt that the corpse of the deceased had been handed over to the Warri South West council Chairman and the civil police for appropriate action while the items (guns and ammunitions) recovered at the crime scene were the custody of the soldiers, as parts of evidences to aid its investigations.
