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.
