Security heightened as police death toll rises to 12

The number of policemen murdered last week by armed youths in Odi, a town in the south-eastern state of Bayelsa, has risen to 12, ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in Lagos quotes Bayelsa Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as saying on Thursday.

There was a strong police presence on the road between the state capital, Yenagoa, and the main south-eastern town, Port Harcourt, as well as the main road approaching Odi, a media source in Lagos told IRIN on Friday.

The source quoted newspaper reports as saying that the police had not yet entered Odi as they wanted to avoid direct confrontation with local people if possible.

In a state-wide radio broadcast, Alamieyeseigha said that seven police officers who were on an oficial mission to Odi were killed last week by “criminals” who later murdered another five law enforcers. Security agents, he said, had been ordered to mount a 24-hour search for the criminals and to use “all means possible to track them down.”

The governor warned members of the public against hiding any of the youths as they would then be treated as accomplices, ‘The Guardian’ said. He announced that a commission of enquiry would be formed to determine the circumstances surrounding the killings.