Following a gun battle with Special troops of the Nigerian Navy on Tuesday, January 7, one of the sea pirates responsible for killing 4 Nigerian Navy personnel and kidnapping 3 foreigners at Agge in Bayelsa state has been apprehended.
The confrontation occurred after the Nigerian Navy Forward Operations Base (FOB) Igbokoda at its Awoye outpost received intelligence about an approaching speed boat suspected to be carrying kidnappers and victims of kidnapping at around 11pm.
The intelligence was gathered after a period of laying siege to capture the suspects who had killed 4 naval personnel serving under the jurisdiction of NNS Delta, an operations base in Warri, Delta State.
Upon sighting the Special Forces deployed in gunboats at the sea entrance, the suspects opened fire. The naval personnel tactically maneuvered the situation, choosing not to retaliate aggressively to avoid harm to the kidnapped victims.
The sea pirates landed at a nearby creek and fled into the bush, but they faced a counter-attack launched by the special troops with additional support from naval personnel at Idi-Ogba and Abereke outpost, as well as local youths assisting in the community-wide search. As a result, three foreign nationals (two Russians and one Indian) were rescued and evacuated to a naval base after a three-hour firefight with the sea pirates. Additionally, one of the suspects, identified as Martins Egenuvhe from Olopa Community in Bayelsa state, was arrested with a rifle.