Nigeria, Aug. 23 -- Gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a police operative in Bayelsa State after robbing him of his mobile phone.

The slain operative, Obot Godwin, was killed around the Amarata area of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, where he went to buy medicine, Punch newspaper reported.

According to the newspaper, the slain operative was pleading with the gunmen to return his phone before he was shot in the head.

The police, the newspaper reported, have carried out indiscriminate arrests in the area, including the destruction of houses and tear-gassing school children, causing residents to flee.

"Windows were smashed during the police raid, and the community has been left in fear of further violence," a source told the newspaper.

"Ev...