Two soldiers feared killed in Rivers’ pirate attack

• Navy pledges safe waterways

BARELY 24 hours after a police officer was killed by sea pirates along the state waterways, two soldiers attached to the Niger Delta Military Task Force code-named Operation Pulo Shield were on Tuesday shot dead along the Ikuru Community in Adoni Local Council Area of Rivers State.

  Also, another soldier was reportedly missing during the attack while three other civilians were equally wounded. 

  The Guardian gathered that the attack, which occurred on Tuesday afternoon, happened at Bayelsa and Rivers State coastal borders. 

  Meanwhile, the Navy has reiterated its commitment in fighting sea robbers and ensuring that Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea are safe. 

  The soldiers, according to security sources, were deployed to provide security for Z-Cube Construction Company workers who are handling the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) project.

  The Joint Military Task Force, through its Media Coordinator, Lt.-Col. Oyenma Nwachukwu, confirmed the death.

  The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) the Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral Joe Aikhomu, made the call yesterday in Calabar at the end of  its programme tagged: Exercise African Winds 2013.

  He said the Navy would not relent on constant training and retraining of military personnel, as well seeking innovative ways of securing the waterways.

  He said the vision of ensuring safe waterways in the country prompted the Exercise African Winds 2013, which was a combined maritime capacity-building training programme led by the Netherlands Maritime Forces under the auspices of the U.S. sponsored African Partnership Station (APS).