The Police public relations officer for Taraba State command, SP Abdullahi Usman has confirmed that two police officers attached to the command were killed by soldiers in Jalingo on Monday morning while two others are currently receiving treatment from gunshot wounds following a scuffle between men of the sister agencies.
Usman said that the situation started when a female police officer who was reporting for duty at the INEC state headquarters in Jalingo was stopped by the military man at a checkpoint close to the headquarters and asked for proper identification.
He said the scuffle was settled and the female police officer proceeded to the collation centre only for the military man to go back and drag her out forcefully, leading to a quick escalation and the mayhem.
“A very ugly incident happened this morning around 8:30am 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 went back to drag her out.
The thing is that 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 our dear lives. The soldiers proceeded to the command headquarters here and shot two police officers who went away with their rifles.
“One police officer who was 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 the moment they identified him as a policeman.
“As we speak, we have gotten reports that our men who are escorting election results or on 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”.
Our correspondent reports that there is still serious tension in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital after the over two hours gun duel between the army and the police while the collation of Governorship election which was scheduled to resume today by 11:30 am has been postponed.
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