Gun battles erupted in multiple locations in southern Nigeria’s oil hub of Port Harcourt on Sunday night, and witnesses said a group of foreigners was taken hostage from a nightclub amid the shooting.
George Ani, a driver in Port Harcourt, said he saw more than 10 people go into the Goodfellas nightclub on Sunday night and drag a group of foreigners away while shooting into the air.
”They were shooting and everyone started screaming,” Ani said. ”They took some expatriates, but I don’t know how many. I lay on the floor of my car until it was finished.”
State police Commissioner Samuel Adetuyi confirmed that gun battles were taking place in different areas of the city but declined to elaborate. He did not confirm or deny the kidnapping.
Ani said the nightclub attackers were wearing military uniforms and didn’t cover their faces.
”There were a lot of them, more than 10, but I didn’t have time to count,” he said. Ani said he did not see anyone injured in the raid.
Two private security contractors who knew people in the club confirmed the report. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak to journalists.
Witnesses said they heard gunshots in at least three neighbourhoods of Port Harcourt.
”I can hear simultaneous shooting in the Agip area of town and Adageorge,” Patterson Ogon, the head of an environmental organisation, said at midnight local time.
Another man living in the area, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said he heard more than 100 shots in 15 minutes. — Sapa-AP