Nigerian military recovers bodies of 4 soldiers killed in oil region

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The military Joint Task Force (JTF) deployed to Nigeria's Niger Delta said on Sunday it had recovered the bodies of the four soldiers who were killed on Thursday by unknown gunmen in the oil region.

JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Timothy Antigha, said in a statement that the soldiers were killed along Eweleso-River in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa state, the home state of Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan.

While a group of ex-militants protesting non-inclusion in the country's amnesty programme has claimed responsibility for the attack, the military spokesman said they were killed by sea pirates, led by one Shedrack Itokofuwei, who was also killed during the attack on the soldiers.

Lt.-Col. Antigha said the gang attacked the military personnel along Ogbia waterway and later killed four policemen at a marine police check point along Nembe waterway in the state on the same day.

The region's largest militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of Africa (MEND), on Friday claimed responsibility for the killing of the policemen.
-0- PANA SEG 4Mar2012