Troops of the Nigerian Army have successfully cleared a notorious oil bunkering site in Rivers State, with two soldiers sustaining gunshot wounds in the process. In a statement on Wednesday, the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Aminu Iliyasu, said the incident occurred on Monday.

According to him, troops of the 29 Battalion Tactical Headquarters, Bille, Rivers State encountered armed illegal bunkerers at Feropkakama Camp, a notorious bunkering site, and the bunkerers on sighting them opened fire.

“However, the gallant troops repelled the attack and pursued the scampering criminals deep into the creeks with many of them sustaining gunshot wounds,” the statement read in part. “Unfortunately, two brave soldiers were wounded in action, one of them critically but both are responding positively to treatment at a military facility in Port Harcourt.”

On Tuesday, troops conducted a follow-up operation to the camp and “discovered 14 Pump Action cartridges, four empty AK 47 magazines, eight pumping machines and several other illegal bunkering tools”.

The Army has launched a massive manhunt in collaboration with other security agencies to for the fleeing criminals in order to bring them to justice, the statement added.