Army personnel deployed to Taraba State have reportedly killed two police officer.
According to Tribune, the incident has been confirmed by the state police public relations officer, Usman Abdullahi, through a press statement.
According to the PPRO, the incident began when a female police officer reporting for duty at the INEC state headquarters in Jalingo was queried for her identity at a checkpoint close to the headquarters.
He stated that the altercation was resolved, and the female police officer continued to the Collation center, only for the military man to return and forcibly haul her out, resulting in a rapid escalation of chaos.
“A very ugly incident happened this morning around 8:30 am between a female police officer and a soldier. After the initial misunderstanding, the lady was allowed to proceed to her duty post, but later the soldier dragged her out. He called for reinforcement from his office, and when it arrived, he had nothing to report and decided to create a situation.
“While we were trying to settle things and I was personally talking to one of the senior soldiers there, the soldiers suddenly started shooting. We were caught in the crossfire and had to run for dear lives. The soldiers proceeded to the command headquarters here and shot two police officers, and went away with their riffles.
“One police officer going off duty was shot and killed instantly while another who was just reporting for duty and did not even know what was happening was also shot when they identified him as a policeman.
“As we speak, we have gotten reports that our men escorting election results in various duties have been stopped at military checkpoints and harassed. They strip them naked and harass them even though they know nothing about what happened.
“For now, the commissioner of police CP Yusuf A. Suleiman and the commander of 6 Brigade Jalingo have met and discussed and have agreed that a commission of enquiry will be set up to look into the real cause of this incident”.
