HOT: ARMY AND POLICE ENGAGE IN GUN BATTLE IN IBADAN.
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There was pandemonium at Mokola, Ibadan, on Thursday as police and army officers engaged themselves in a shootout.
It was gathered that the army personnel were reacting to the attack on one of their men at Mokola by some policemen on Wednesday following an assault on a female police.
They resorted to shooting when the army officers allegedly stormed the Mokola Police Station to question the harassment of one of its personnel.
It was learnt that a soldier was brutalised by the police on Wednesday after a policewoman was assaulted by two soldiers.
An eyewitness said, “At around 3pm, soldiers numbering about 10, stormed the station and beat the policemen on duty. We learnt that the attack was in retaliation for the brutality of a soldier on Wednesday night.
“We learnt that it all started when the police were doing ‘stop and search’ in front of the station.
“Today, (Thursday) policemen on duty were manhandled and beaten with belts.
“They shot into the air. There was commotion as people took cover. There was gridlock on the road in the area as a result of this.”
Attempts by our correspondent to get reactions from the police and army on the incident as of press time failed.
Four(4) days ago, similar case occurred at Ikorodu In Lagos State. Read the details below.
The shooting incident between policemen and
members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at
Ikorodu in Lagos on Wednesday last week leading to the death of two
persons and causing injuries to five others showed that the unnecessary
rivalry existing between security agencies rather than abate has
continued to escalate.
Not unexpectedly, the police and the NSCDC have related different accounts of the incident. But according to one account, at about 3 am on that day, a patrol team of NSCDC operatives had arrested some people suspected to have vandalised oil pipelines. These were being taken to their Alausa office at Ikeja when they ran into a group of policemen. A skirmish between both teams ensued which resulted into the killings and injuries. Not done with this display of indiscipline, civil servants resuming for work the next morning were forced to run for their safety when sporadic shooting started again between the police and the NSCDC members in the Alausa area. The Ikorodu incident between the police and the NSCDC was hardly an exception. Clashes between security agencies have become so frequent that it should be expected that wherever more than one security agency have been detailed to a particular duty there is a likelihood of friction occurring between them. In an incident at the Emir's palace in Gombe recently, there was a shootout between soldiers and policemen leading to fatalities. Such clashes involving the army/navy, police/FRSC, VIO/police, air force /police, etc, are entirely uncalled for and condemnable. Intra-agency disciple and inter-agency esprit de corps appear to be on the decline, which does not bode well for the country.
On the surface, it would seem the fracas at Ikorodu can be explained away as an unintended accident in the heat of argument when the police arrived at the scene. But that would be a mistaken view. Indeed it seemed more premeditated than unintentional because the apprehension of pipeline vandals that was accomplished without any recourse to violence was brought to naught by the policemen who were too eager to shoot and in fact killed two of NSCDC members, but allowed the suspects to escape. Furthermore, if the policemen were in charge of protecting the pipelines, as they claimed, where were they when the vandals were bursting the pipes?
A thorough investigation needs be carried out to ascertain how two federal security agencies that should complement one another in the discharge of their assignment decided to resolve a minor issue through the force of arms and in the process allowed criminals in their custody to flee. The Ikorodu incident underscored the fact that some established security agencies are working at cross purposes, seeing themselves more as rivals rather than organs of state performing important and similar roles, and that cooperation would serve them better in achieving results. This notion of competition and of one agency angling to out-perform the other is so dominant that it makes them resort to ironing out differences through violence. In this, the police force is most guilty; its personnel are known to be trigger-happy, wielding their weapons not for protection of the innocent but covering the criminal. The increasing number of police personnel jailed by the courts for murder offences are proof that the Nigerian Police Force must urgently address the issue of forging good working relationship with the other security agencies, particularly the paramilitary, with which its members come into contact with regularly while performing their duties.
Similarly, the other agencies should continually train and inculcate in their rank and file the necessity for better working relationship with each other.
Not unexpectedly, the police and the NSCDC have related different accounts of the incident. But according to one account, at about 3 am on that day, a patrol team of NSCDC operatives had arrested some people suspected to have vandalised oil pipelines. These were being taken to their Alausa office at Ikeja when they ran into a group of policemen. A skirmish between both teams ensued which resulted into the killings and injuries. Not done with this display of indiscipline, civil servants resuming for work the next morning were forced to run for their safety when sporadic shooting started again between the police and the NSCDC members in the Alausa area. The Ikorodu incident between the police and the NSCDC was hardly an exception. Clashes between security agencies have become so frequent that it should be expected that wherever more than one security agency have been detailed to a particular duty there is a likelihood of friction occurring between them. In an incident at the Emir's palace in Gombe recently, there was a shootout between soldiers and policemen leading to fatalities. Such clashes involving the army/navy, police/FRSC, VIO/police, air force /police, etc, are entirely uncalled for and condemnable. Intra-agency disciple and inter-agency esprit de corps appear to be on the decline, which does not bode well for the country.
On the surface, it would seem the fracas at Ikorodu can be explained away as an unintended accident in the heat of argument when the police arrived at the scene. But that would be a mistaken view. Indeed it seemed more premeditated than unintentional because the apprehension of pipeline vandals that was accomplished without any recourse to violence was brought to naught by the policemen who were too eager to shoot and in fact killed two of NSCDC members, but allowed the suspects to escape. Furthermore, if the policemen were in charge of protecting the pipelines, as they claimed, where were they when the vandals were bursting the pipes?
A thorough investigation needs be carried out to ascertain how two federal security agencies that should complement one another in the discharge of their assignment decided to resolve a minor issue through the force of arms and in the process allowed criminals in their custody to flee. The Ikorodu incident underscored the fact that some established security agencies are working at cross purposes, seeing themselves more as rivals rather than organs of state performing important and similar roles, and that cooperation would serve them better in achieving results. This notion of competition and of one agency angling to out-perform the other is so dominant that it makes them resort to ironing out differences through violence. In this, the police force is most guilty; its personnel are known to be trigger-happy, wielding their weapons not for protection of the innocent but covering the criminal. The increasing number of police personnel jailed by the courts for murder offences are proof that the Nigerian Police Force must urgently address the issue of forging good working relationship with the other security agencies, particularly the paramilitary, with which its members come into contact with regularly while performing their duties.
Similarly, the other agencies should continually train and inculcate in their rank and file the necessity for better working relationship with each other.
