Men of the 16 Brigade of the Nigerian Army led by one Lieutenant Ochai Ignatius yesterday allegedly invaded and beat up a staff of the Bayelsa state Environmental Sanitation Authority ESA at its secretariat in Yenagoa, the state capital.

A statement issued by the executive chairman of the authority, Chief Robert Enogha indicated that the unfortunate incidence took place on Thursday.

According to the statement, trouble started when the authority’s task force on revenue enforcement impounded the battery of a lowbed vehicle belonging to a Port Harcourt based company for evading waste disposal/sanitation fees for 2018.

The statement further hinted that the military men numbering about 15 in an Operation Delta Safe branded Hilux vehicle stormed the authority’s secretariat in a gestapo style around 4 pm, claiming that the lowbed was conveying a swamp buggy to the 16 Brigade for work.

The statement alleged that before Lt. Ochai went to the office of the chairman to discuss the issue, he had ordered his personnel to assault every staff of the authority at sight.

It said the military men who wielded guns and machetes chased and flogged staff of the authority, leaving many of them seriously injured, adding that even passersby were not spared.

•Sourced from Tribune report