Four policemen have reportedly drowned in a river in Bayelsa State on their way to the place of their assigned duty to monitor the senatorial bye-election in the state.
The policemen and others were said to be heading to Southern Ijaw Local Government Area when the tragedy occurred.
While four policemen were reported drowned, some others were rescued.
Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Bayelsa State Police Command, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the tragedy, saying that the boat capsized on their way to Oporoma, headquarters of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.
According to him, the police were yet to ascertain the number of cops involved in the accident.
Butswat stated that the command was monitoring the incident and that from the information gathered, it was a boat mishap and some of the policemen were declared missing and some rescued.
He clarified that it was not an attack, but a boat mishap.
Butswat said the police could not say that someone was dead because it would be too hasty to say so, as some might have swum to safety.
“It is when it is confirmed by medical personnel that we can say they are dead. For now, they are missing,” he told The Nation.
