TheCable

Seven operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were killed by pipeline vandals at the Ikorodu area of Lagos on Tuesday night.

A source told TheCable that pipeline vandals laid ambush for the officers at the Isawo axis of the area and surrounded them as they got to the spot.

The corpses of the officers were also said to be taken away by the vandals, alleged to be Niger Delta militants.

There are different accounts of the incident.

A resident of Isawo who did not want to be named said people in the community are now living in fear.

“The militants barricaded the road (because they operate around this vicinity at will) and forced the DSS men to alight from their vehicles,” he said.

“After that, they were said to have been led to the river where they were shot and killed.

“The militants operate here freely. During the period of fuel scarcity when they did not have patronage, they came out openly and started harassing people for money. They are  beyond control. They brandish gun without fear. Even the security men know them because they sell fuel around here.”

Another source said that the security personnel were called in to prevent siphoning of petroleum products from pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and that they were killed during the shooting that ensued.

Joe Offor, spokesman of the Lagos state police command, confirmed that there was violence in the area but could not give details.

“I can confirm that there were skirmishes in that area on Tuesday night but I don’t know if anyone was killed,” he said.

Incidents of attack on security personnel are not new in the area.

Last month, three policemen  from Owutu police division were killed while some of their colleagues sustained injuries during a similar attack.