A policeman was killed and several others were injured in a reported altercation between Nigerian police officers and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in the Amaeze community in Ebonyi State.
Three police Hilux vans, carrying about 30 officers, allegedly interacted with and allegedly opened fire on an NSCDC van, according to reports.
Apparently, the NSCDC vehicle was carrying mining equipment to a nearby community site.
A police officer, identified as Shedrack, was alleged to have been killed by a stray bullet as his colleagues attempted to disarm an NSCDC officer during the altercation.
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The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ivo division, Emmanuel Ajah, confirmed the incident to Channels Television on Thursday by confirming that the two sister security agencies had been at odds with one another during the tragic confrontation that took place at the Amaeze community on Wednesday.
The DPO informed me that a police officer and a civil defense officer were engaged in a fight in the Amaeze neighborhood, and sadly one of them lost their lives, according to Ajah.
An Amaeze community witness who pleaded anonymity said that tension escalated when three Hilux vans carrying about 30 policemen reportedly crossed and opened fire on the community’s NSCDC van while the officer was being transported to a community site.
Shedrack allegedly attempted to disarm a civil defense officer during the altercation. However, other police officers mistakenly hit their colleague, who died instantly, while some others received gunshot wounds, according to the eyewitness.
While the injured officers are receiving medical care, the officer’s body was dumped into a mortuary.
However, the Ebonyi State Police Command claimed to have detained an NSCDC officer for obstructing the highway without authorization and by doing so that a police officer died.
The police spokesperson, SP Joshua Ukandu, stated in a press release that officers from the Command were dispatched to the Ivo Local Government Area to make the arrest of the suspects named in the petition.
The police claimed that when the officers arrived, they had a properly identified themselves with the suspects in front of NSCDC personnel and soldiers guarding a nearby quarry facility.
The suspects willingly turned themselves in to the police, according to the statement, and the soldiers stationed allowed the arrest to proceed.
The NSCDC team leader allegedly obstructed the procedure by ordering his men to block the police car and insisting that the suspects could not be removed in clear defiance of the law.
The statement had the following in it: “Despite appeals by the suspects themselves, who urged the NSCDC personnel to allow them to follow the police, the NSCDC officer refused and forcefully attempted to seize a rifle from one of the policemen. He fatally wounds a police officer when he discharged the weapon during the subsequent argument.
The injured officer was taken to the hospital where he was tragically declared dead. A full-scale investigation into the incident is still being conducted, and the responsible NSCDC officer has since been detained.
Source: Channels TV
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