Eleven persons, including a driver, are feared dead following a boat mishap along the Escravos River in Warri South-West Council Area of Delta State on Friday, just as a Labour Party (LP) chieftain and House of Assembly aspirant in April 2015 general elections, Mr. Bright Obodo, was reportedly shot dead at his Orhowhorun Road residence Saturday night.
The boat mishap along the estuary of the Atlantic Ocean was said to be as a result of a downpour during which time all passengers in the outboard engine boat are usually covered in a broad tarpaulin to prevent them from getting soaked and leaving only boat driver standing to see ahead while piloting the passengers’ boat.
The incident was reported to have happened between a boat going to Warri from the Escravos axis and another from Escravos to Warri when they collided and capsized due to the rains and turbulent waves of the sea.
The driver of the boat that took off from the Rex Water Front Jetty at the Ugbuwangue community survived the mishap and with some others, are currently receiving treatment at various private hospitals in Warri. The number of persons in both boats cannot be ascertained as it is not the practice amongst boat owners to keep a manifest of passengers in their business.
Meanwhile, youths from Igbudu community in Warri South Council Saturday staged a protest over the killing of one of their own, a Labour Party chieftain, Mr. Bright Obodo, by suspected assassins close to his residence at Orhuwhorun Road in Udu Council Area of the state.
The late Obodo who contested the Warri constituency 11 House of Assembly election and lost out to his PDP candidate, Hon. Denis Omovie, had dragged the latter to the election petition Tribunal and lost but has taken the matter further to the appellate court before he met his untimely death, early Saturday evening.
Armed robbers have resumed their nefarious activities in Warri and its environs in recent time with broad day dare-devil killings and looting that has sent cool shivers down the spine of residence of the oil City, just as vigilante groups have stepped up actions against them that has led to the arrest of and killings of some of these hoodlums.
