SOLDIERS BATTER POLICEMEN OVER SHOT COLLEAGUE

RESIDENTS of the Mokola area of Ibadan, Oyo State, were thrown into panic yesterday as a band of soldiers and Policemen engaged in a test of power.

It was around 3.30 p.m when about 10 uniformed soldiers moved out of the Mokola police station and were leaving on motorcycles, when some policemen angrily trooped out and started shooting into the air.

The Nigerian Compass learnt that the soldiers had visited the station to avenge the Wednesday night shooting of their colleague by a policeman during a stop-and-search operation.

It was reported that the soldier had been ordered to stop for a check, but refused, prompting one of the police officers to shoot him in the ankle. 

Though, the visibly angry policemen did not disclose any information to the press, it was learnt from some traders close to the station that the soldiers manhandled the policemen, beating them with belts and destroying some items.

After the soldiers had finished with their operation and walked out of the premises, the policemen took their guns and started shooting sporadically into the air.

It was learnt that one of the soldiers was arrested while walking along the road. He was to be struggling with the policemen when he was being handcuffed before he was taken to the Eleyele Police Headquarters for interrogation.

After the soldiers had left, the policemen, some of them now in mufti, trooped out and started shooting sporadically into the air, making motorists and passengers in all the adjourning streets to abandon their vehicles and run into the houses around the area.
Traders also started removing their wares and shutting their shops to avoid being caught in the cross fire.

As at 4.30 p.m, Policemen were seen in all the streets around the station, as well as the main road leading to the University College Hospital (UCH), forcing all motorists and passers-by to turn back. This caused traffic gridlock. 

The Nigerian Compass learnt that the sporadic shooting was embarked on to ward off another attack by the soldiers, who had left. 

Normalcy finally returned around 5 p.m. and the traders started re-opening their shops.  
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer Mrs Bisi Ilobanafor (DSP) said one of the soldiers was arrested and later handed over to the Army authority.

According to her, two men on a motorcycle on Wednesday night ran into a woman police officer, who was in mufti and knocked her down. The two men turned out to be soldiers, and the ensuing pandemonium was brought under control when policemen from Mokola were reinforced to the scene.

"We did not know what happened again today (yesterday) why the soldiers, in large number, stormed the station with cudgels, hammers and the rest, destroying things and damaging vehicles in the premises. The GOC has waded into the matter and we have handed the soldier over to the authority", she told Nigerian Compass on the phone.

Source: Compass