LAGOS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen suspected to be militants operating in the oil-rich Niger Delta region have attacked a tugboat, killing at three people, local police said Saturday.
Asinim Butswat, police spokesperson in Bayelsa State, who confirmed the attack, said one police operative was still missing.
He said the remains of the victims had been recovered and deposited at the Federal Medical Center Mortuary, Yenagoa, for autopsy.
According to him, a search party has been deployed to find the missing policeman while all security operatives in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area have been alerted.
An oil services vessel with a combined team of security escort on board and civilians was attacked on Friday by suspected sea pirates at Ekebiri Waterways in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The police spokesperson told reporters that a response team dispatched to the crime scene rescued eight occupants of the ill-fated boat.
The attack came barely three weeks after an ambush on a military houseboat that killed two in Southern Ijaw Creeks.
