They had dropped off their men at the jetty, off King Asimini Bypass (Berger Road), at the proposed site for the Bonny Free Trade Zone, which includes an Industrial Park, and were making their way to the rendezvous point which will also serve as dispatch point when the operation was over.

Those they dropped off were split into two groups, one dressed in traditional attires as if they were heading to a cultural event or coming from one. The second group were in military fatigues disguised as soldiers to hoodwink the gullible.

On getting to the road, they flagged down a Mitsubishi bus driver, shot into the air twice to alert him that he was in big trouble. He acquiesced to them to stay alive. They tied him up and loaded him into the boot of his vehicle and zoomed off.

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At what point along the King Asimini Bypass and for what reason they decided to release a volley of shots remains uncertain, but residents of that part of town and far beyond heard the response of a release of gunshots, ostensibly from a submachine gun (SMG) or general purpose machine gun (GMPG) that went off. As the area and all of the island became dead quiet, the tension that ensued rose to freezing levels.

A few minutes later, residents of Macaulay Street, off Hospital Road, heard movements signifying that something was amiss; and yes, one of their targets, had been snatched from wherever they found him and was neatly tucked-in inside the boot of the vehicle they came with.

Knowledgeable sources say their second target, an Igbo money lender, who also lives in the area, was out of town, signifying intelligence failure on their part. They were said to have shot someone who was later rushed to nearby St. Peter’s Clinic for treatment. They made their way to the dispatch point: Coconut Estate. Curiously, there was no boat and their accomplices were incommunicado. Obviously, there was trouble.

At that point they realised, the volley of bullets that went off earlier that was not theirs may have actually been those of their men and the security operatives.

Along the creek linking the Coal Beach with Coconut Estate, the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base (FOB), having been alerted by the initial gunshots, had activated one of its gunboats along the creek, ambush style. And when the ‘boys’ ran into them, the shock of seeing them prompted them to shoot at the soldiers who released waves of gunshots on them from their GMPG in response to their foolish audacity.

They turned around their boat in desperation and zoomed off into the night. It was not clear yet the amount of damage done to their boat and how many casualties they incurred as they sped away for dear life. But the naval personnel stayed sentry on the river cutting off that route entirely.

On land, trouble came big time for the hoodlums as youths of the community in their numbers mobilized with all they have got and pushed down towards the Abalamabie Road leading to Simidia junction.

As at now, having been stranded, the criminals had rushed back out into the Abalamabie Road, veered into New Jerusalem Road and towards the mosque area but had to return back to Abalamabie Road. This was due to their rethink on the option of escaping through Finima.

Sources told Kristina Reports that someone raised the point that with the community already on alert chances are that the 146 Battalion of the Nigerian Army would close down Workers Camp junction and NLNG Roundabout and there was no way they could get to Finima that night.

It was in the middle of that quandary that they saw the advancing crowd of youths and the exchange of gunfire between them began in earnest. At Coconut Estate, they had ditched the Mitsubishi bus they had come with and snatched a Toyota Corolla saloon car. They later dumped the car on the road in-between the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny, and Elizabeth Suites along the Abalamabie Road with their abducted victims and ran for dear life.

Along the Abalamabie Road close to Blue Roof, they snatched a Toyota Hiace bus, stole from its occupants and ordered them out and turned the vehicle around and drove into Abalamabie Community. On getting there, they dumped the vehicle and ran on foot into the bush heading towards Oguede Community but were surprised with a hail of bullets that greeted them. Oguede Community youths, having been alerted brought out all they have gotten and waited for them.

They tried to respond but realizing their situation, turned around and headed towards the opposite direction. They ran on foot into the Abalamabie forest leading towards Bagg-Jumbo Community. Knowledgeable sources told Kristina Reports that they must have gone on foot through Waterwell 9 area into the mangrove forest where there was a small creek from where they escaped.

All around the area from Akiama junction down the long stretch of the Abalamabie Road, security operatives saw a standoff by the youths of Bonny who rose that fateful night to defend and retake their community from rampaging hoodlums. Before the Nigerian Army could mobilize to the area, the youths had restored normalcy and stood sentry to ward off any further incursions into their land.

In one night, the criminals realised that Bonny Island could stand for itself. A top security official, who preferred anonymity, confided in Kristina Reports that “your youths saved the day. I was awake with my men on the road and we saw the strength and audacity they displayed. I’m impressed”.

The said abductee, Promise Green was currently in an undisclosed medical facility receiving treatment. So were the drivers of the three vehicles snatched by the hoodlums. The vehicles have been recovered by the Nigeria Police, along with the military fatigues used by the hoodlums. And investigations have commenced into the circumstances surrounding the gory event.  

The island community was calm as at the time of this report, just as the youths were celebrating their victory over the forces of evil that invaded their land that fateful night. Never again would it happen that men of the underworld would step into Bonny Kingdom and do as they please. 

The Divisional Police Officers (DPO), Bonny, Usman Sadiq, and Finima, Shuaib Achigili, both Chief Superintendents of Police (CSPs), the Local Government Security Officer (LGSO), Department of State Services (DSS), Bonny Division, Collins Eche, and the Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base (FOB), Nigerian Navy (NN), Bonny, Navy Capt. Badamasi Yahuza, among other security chiefs, also demonstrated strategic leadership that put a structure to the response that greeted this latest onslaught on the island.

All the security chiefs were awake all night with their men holding down different parts of the town while the criminals ran for dear life. This would be the first time in a long while that such robust response would meet an attack in a community that has witnessed in the last 24 months multiple abductions, several sea pirate attacks, and killings, maiming, armed robbery, raping of women on the high seas, and several other untold, excruciating terror attacks.

But the greater accolades goes to the youths of Bonny Kingdom, who took the last stand, sacrificed sleep and other comforts and took a chance on themselves and their community to chase away daredevil men of the underworld. They deserve the best commendations for rising to the occasion.