A retired engineer with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was, on Sunday evening, reportedly shot dead and his wife and children abducted by gunmen along the East-West road in Delta State.

Reports said the engineer, whose name could not be gotten, was returning with his family in his vehicle from Bayelsa State to Warri, Delta State, when he was attacked.

The incident occurred along Evwreni-Ughelli section of the East-West Road in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.

The engineer, said to be a septuagenarian from Kaiama in Bayelsa State, was on the journey with five others while his driver was said to be missing, too.

It was gathered that the gunmen shot the man and ordered one of the children in the vehicle to rush him to the hospital while they made away with the wife and two other children.

It was gathered that the retired oil worker died at the hospital in Ughelli where he was rushed to for medical attention after he was shot by the hoodlums.

As of Monday, the abductors were said to have contacted the relations of the deceased.

Meanwhile, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Command, DSP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the incident, gave no details. (Text excluding headline from Nigerian Tribune)