Gunmen kill 2 policemen, abduct 2 Lebanese in Bayelsa

There was commotion in Onuegbum, a riverine community in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa state on Wednesday, as two policemen lost their lives in an exchange of gunfire with suspected kidnappers.

The gunmen, numbering about eight, according to witnesses, arrived in the community at about 12:20pm in two speed boats through the waterways.

They besieged the sand dredging site and shot repeatedly into the air to scare away passersby and other workers in the area.

The policemen died while engaging the armed gang, which abducted the foreigners identified as Sarki Chmouli and Ibrahim Pherem.

The slain policemen were attached to Pache Construction Company, employers of the abducted Lebanese.

Asinim Butswat, the state police spokesman, confirmed the development, saying the remains of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa.