- Family: We called police during attack
Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
There was controversy thursday over the attack on the home of the late aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Oronto Douglas, by an armed gang in Okoroba, Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Okoroba is the hometown of the late Oronto Douglas, a former Commissioner for Information in Bayelsa State and later Special Adviser to Jonathan on Research and Documentation.
While the Bayelsa Police Command thursday denied knowledge of the attack by yet unidentified gunmen, the family insisted that several distress calls were put through to the leadership of the command, but no help came.
Spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, said the command was not aware of the incident.
However, Mr. Gift Douglas, younger brother to Oronto said that he personally reported the incident as it was happening to the police high command as well as the Nembe Police Division.
He said some gunmen, numbering about 15, on Tuesday, December 26 attacked Okoroba community carting property worth millions of naira.
He said: “It is unbelievable that the police will say they are not aware of a crime that I personally made a distress call to the Bayelsa Police Command, I also spoke to the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations.
“The community has also written officially on the incident and the copy of the petition is available for all to see.
“We went further to call the Bayelsa government special joint security outfit ‘Doo Akpo’ and they told us that they have logistics challenge reaching our community because we are not linked by road and we made contact with other military teams that often patrol the waterways as well.â€
A community Leader, Chief Azibatonye Nengimonyo, also said that the gunmen who invaded the community shot into the air when they gained access into the house.
“The gunmen invaded our community at about 9pm, some of them were masked while others did not cover their faces.
“They looted the whole community, even the residence of our late brother, Chief Oronto Douglas of blessed memory. Those hoodlums carted away properties worth millions from this community,†he said.
He appealed to the government to deploy security personnel to protect the community from further attacks adding that the area does not have security presence at present.
