By Onome Oghenetega
At least one person has been reportedly killed as armed gunmen on Saturday night repeatedly attacked residents of Freshville Estate area of Okuokoko in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.
The incident, NIGER DELTA TODAY (NDT) Online gathered, caused panic and confusion among residents all through Saturday night.
It was gathered that the gunmen had first attacked the area at about 7pm and later returned around 4am on Sunday.
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Residents of the area told our correspondent that the deceased was murdered during the first attack which lasted for over 30 minutes.
The deceased, in his early 40s and father of three, was said to have been shot when the armed-wielding gunmen broke into the compound where the victim lived.
It was gathered that the hoodlums operated unchallenged in the first attack shooting sporadically and thereby causing tension in the neighbourhood.
The gunmen were said to have launched a second attack at about 4am but repelled by local security personnel guiding the area. No casualty was recorded from the second attack.
Residents told NIGER DELTA TODAY (NDT) Online that the gunmen stormed the area through the fence of the permanent site of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Effurun which is overgrown with weeds.
They lamented that the area has been under constant attacks by the same group of gunmen who regularly scale the PTI fence to harass and rob residents of the area.
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“The gunmen after robbing residents escaped through the PTI fence through which they came where we suspect they usually regroup to attack. Last night’s attack was terrible because they came twice. Everyone is in panic over the killing of one of our residents”, one of the residents stated.
They called on the Delta State Police Command and the Orodje of Okpe to quickly intervene in the security situation in the area.
The spokesman of the Delta Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, could not be reached on phone for official response on the incident at the time of filing this report.
