Ben Dunno, Warri
A bloody confrontation between youths loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, yesterday, claimed one life and left several others injured.
The fighting, which started at about 9am, saw residents, especially motorists and passersby going to church service along the popular PTI Road in Effurun, running for safety, as the youths, suspected to be political thugs, engaged in a fierce gun battle.
Some of the youths took advantage of the mayhem to rob passersby and vehicle owners of their valuables, and most drivers abandoned their vehicles in the middle of the road to run for their lives.
It took the intervention of soldiers from the nearby 3 Battalion, Effurun, to restore normalcy to the area.
At the time of this report, stores and places of worship in the vicinity were shut, as most residents were scared to return to the area.
It was not clear which of the camps the youth that was killed belonged to, as neither of the groups came forward to claim to the corpse of the victim.
Meanwhile, the police in Delta killed two armed robbers in a shootout during an raid on a criminal gang’s hideout in the early hours of Friday.
It was learnt that, following the report of a stolen Toyota Corolla car, with registration number Oleh 236 AT, police from the Eburumede Division, led by the divisional police officer, CSP Anietie Eyoh, immediately swung into action.
Sources close to the police disclosed that, based on intelligence reports, the police raided a popular hotel in Agbarho, near Warri, at about 12am, where the vehicle was parked
It was further learnt that, on arresting the suspect who drove the car there, the police were led to Egbo community, within the Otokutu axis in Uvwie council area, where the gang opened fire on sighting the police.
Two of the suspects were reported to have fallen to the superior firepower of the police, while the other gang members managed to escape.
Recovered at the scene were rifles and cartridges.
Delta State Police Command public relations officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, who confirmed the killing of the robbers in the shootout, noted that the operation was in earnest, with zero tolerance for violence crimes in the state.