The Defence Headquarters on Saturday said that troops deployed under the Special Task Force, Operation Awase, were combing the bush for a group of vandals who engaged the men of the task force in a shoot out at Arepo on Thursday.
The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said on the telephone on Saturday that while the troops had not arrested any of the vandals involved in the attack, efforts were ongoing to fish them out.
He vowed that those behind the nefarious action would be arrested.
Abubakar said that contrary to reports that five naval personnel were killed in the attack, only the driver of the speed boat and another civilian died in the attack.
The Acting Defence Spokesman stated also that no arrests had been made so far.
However, he said that the men of the Joint Task Force coordinated by the Defence Headquarters had encircled the area and were looking for the vandals.
Abubakar added that some of the vandals were killed in the attack. He did not give the casualty figure.
According to him, the men of the task force came under attack while they were in pursuit of some vandals of a pipeline of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday.
He stated that the troops repelled the attack of the fleeing vandals who set the place on fire to prevent the security men from getting to them.
Abubakar called on the members of the Arepo community to give necessary information to the security men to track those behind the sabotage against the nation.
He stressed that the military and security agencies would not allow the heinous attack on the nation’s strategic assets.
He said, “So far no arrest has been made. The personnel of the ‘Operation Awase’ were on patrol to that general area in pursuit of the mandate of stopping oil bunkering and pipeline vandalization.
“The men of the task force pursued the vandals, to a point near the vandalized pipeline and there was an ensuing gun battle. Our personnel were ambushed, but they returned the fire and repelled the attack.
“The vandals set the place ablaze to prevent our men from going inside. The NNPC later brought the fire under control.
“The person driving the speed boat was killed and another person who ran into the bush was later found dead.
“The people of the community should assist the security agents to do their job. Nobody should close their eyes and allow the criminality to continue. That operation has helped a lot.
“We are combing the area and those guys would be arrested. We would not be deterred. Our personnel there are determined to ensure that this type of action is stopped.”
There are reports that the vandals ambushed and killed five naval personnel in a reprisal attack in the area on Thursday
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