The peace of Ughelli, Delta State, South South Nigeria, was rocked on Monday night as Sixtus Ganagana, the younger brother to the Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Basil Ganagana, was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

Two members of a vigilance group, who rushed to the scene of the shooting, were also reportedly gunned down.


The late Ganagana was an employee of the Delta State Oil Producing Development Commission and was married with two children before his death.


The incident, seen as a reprisal attack, was said to have occurred around 9pm and came as a shock to residents and friends of the deceased who was said to be one of the foot soldiers of his brother.


A former Chairman of Patani Local Government, Paul Atie, who defected to the Fresh Party after losing the state House of Assembly primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, was few weeks ago gunned down by five suspected assassins at a filling station in the town.


Atie, a former campaign director to a House of Assembly aspirant who was allegedly schemed out of the PDP during the last primaries, reportedly had a brief conversation with his assailants before they shot him at a close range.


During the latest assassination incident, members of the vigilance team in the town, who got wind of the shooting, were said to have immediately mobilised against the suspected killers of Sixtus, 31, and engaged them in a gun duel.


The cross-fire which eyewitnesses said lasted for over 30 minutes at the deceased’s residence around the Ughelli Township Stadium area was said to have led to the death of one of the assailants.


Also, two members of the vigilance group, on Monday popularly called Bakassi, were also reportedly gunned down by the attackers.


Our correspondent gathered that the assailants numbering about four came in a red I90 Mercedes Benz car, marked AH 255 BMA.


The driver of the assailants’ car, who was shot by the vigilance group, was said to have lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a stationary Toyota Camry.


The gunmen were said to have fled with bullet wounds and abandoned their vehicle at the scene of the incident.


Ganagana, the deputy speaker, in a statement made available to our correspondent in Asaba, described the incident as “an introduction of a negative phenomenon into the politics of Patani Local Government.”


The lawmaker maintained that the act was targeted at him by his “political opponents with a view to weakening my political power base.” He however appealed to his supporters to remain calm while the police conducted their investigations.


When contacted, the Ughelli ‘A’Divisional police officer, Mr. Chris Sogbora, told newsmen that the Delta Central Area Commander had ordered the Criminal Investigation Department to take charge of the matter.


Also the Delta State Police Public Relation Officer, Mr Charles Muka, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, who confirmed the incident, told our correspondent that the command was taking steps to unearth those behind the act to serve as a deterrence to other criminals.


“Our men are still investigating, but no arrests have been made yet, though we were able to gun down one of the suspects. We will get to the root of it,” he said.

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Posted: at 6-04-2011 12:01 PM (13 years ago) | Gistmaniac

This is horrific n barbaric in its entirety...RIP 2 dvictim

Posted: at 6-04-2011 12:27 PM (13 years ago) | Newbie

RIP

Posted: at 6-04-2011 04:18 PM (13 years ago) | Hero

RIP

Posted: at 24-04-2012 06:38 AM (12 years ago) | Addicted Hero

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