It was learnt that already supremacy battles and scrambling for operational bases among leaders of the emerging militant groups have begun.The scrambling was said to have triggered a bloody clash between two militant groups intending to operate at the Gbarain area of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.
Three militants were feared killed in the clash and many others allegedly sustained severe injuries.
A security source told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that members of the two militant groups engaged one another in a fierce battle that lasted for hours.
The security personnel said sophisticated weapons including AK47 riffles were reportedly used in the creek warfare that threw the communities around Gbarain into pandemonium.
The sporadic gunshots fired by the contending militants were said to have created panic as some of the residents chose to flee the area for the time being.
A resident in one of the surrounding communities said after the battle, three militants belonging to one of the camps were reportedly gunned down by the rival group.The resident, who wished to be anonymous for safety reasons, said, "The leader of one of the camps is very notorious. He is known in the creeks but we are keeping his name under wraps. It was a fierce battle caused by sharing of territories.
"The notorious leader accused his counterpart of trespassing into his territory. The development led to the bloody clash. Three militants were killed and many were severely injured."
When contacted, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, said he had yet to be briefed on the development by the Divisional Police Officers in the areas.
He, however, said the police in the state had been mopping up arms in various cities and creeks in the state.
"We are sanitising the state by mopping up arms. We do it on a daily basis and the arms we have recovered are with us," Opara said.In his reaction, Media Coordinator, Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, Lt.-Col. Mustapha Anka, said he had not been briefed on the clash
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