Residents flee Sapele community over killing of Military personnel

By Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Residents of Oton Community in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State on Monday took to their heels for fear of brutality from the Nigerian Military that besieged the community.
Sequel to the killing of a military personel and a police officer over the weekend by unknown gunmen, soldiers were seen trooping into Sapele town yesterday and headed to Oton community.
Monday night, the community was sealed up by the military and nobody was allowed to come in or go out, to the end that residents had to make use of an old route that had long been abandon to escape in their numbers from the community.
It was gathered that the gunmen may have probably come for a kidnapping operation and deemed it fit to dislodged the army checkpoint at Oton before carrying out their operation but the strong resistance from security personnel forced them back, not after killing the military personnel and a police officer.
It was also gathered that the Oton Youth Chairman, as well as the vigilante chairman of the community had been apprehended and were undergoing interrogation, as it was also alleged that during the period of the attack, they did not mobilize youths and vigilantes to assist the security personnel at the checkpoint.
As at the time of filing this report, Oton community was still under seized, and residents remained indoor while many were fleeing with their valuables using the alternative route.