A man identified as Ernest, who works for an oil servicing firm, has been shot dead in Bayelsa, by troops of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, "Operation Pulo Shield", after mistaking him for a militant.
Ernest, who was the driving a boat at the time refused to stop when he was ordered to stop. He thought the JTF troops were militants dressed in military uniforms.
A source who did not want to be named said the troops were patrolling the waterways when they saw Ernest in a boat.
They opened fire on the occupants because it was thought that they were militants.
“Ernest was coming from Brass when he noticed the soldiers’ boat. But all the occupants of Ernest’s boat thought the boat belonged to pirates.”
“They reasoned that pirates had always disguised like soldiers to attack unsuspecting members of the public.”
“They ignored all the efforts by the patrol boat to stop them. While they were speeding out of perceived danger, the soldiers released a warning shot into the air; but the speedboat kept moving. Out of fear, the passengers jumped into the water and swam into the mangrove.”
His remains has been deposited at a morgue in Yenegoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
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