Andy Esiet, Calabar
Two militant groups, the Ijaw militants and the Biafra separatists on Sunday clashed in Nigeria’s territorial waters near the Gulf of Guinea.
Specifically, the incident took place at Uyenghe in Mbo Local Government Area (LGA) of Akwa Ibom state near Bakassi Peninsula and some of the militants were injured but no fatality.
Top sources said some militants of Ijaw extraction suspected to be loyal to Tom Polo, attacked the Black Marine, a militant group allegedly working for the Biafra Nations League (Bn).
The sources further stated that “one of the Black Marine former commander from Bayelsa led his kinsmen to invade their camp and snatch boats and arms belonging to the Biafra separatist militants this morning to take to Bayelsa and in response two of the Ijaw militants were injured”.
It was also gathered that the attack was a case of betrayal by the former commander of the Black Marine who was their number two man attempting to attack the Black Marine with his boys and get arms and boats to form a separate group but were repelled.
Commenting, the National Leader of the BnL, Mr. Princewill Chimezie Richards said that the incident “is unfortunate. I don’t know what the Ijaw militants are fighting for, at least we know what the Black Marine stands for, these are just pirates looking for means of survival” .
