There was confusion on Friday in Minna, Niger State capital, as a detachment of soldiers took over ‘B’ Division of the state Police Command, following an alleged molestation of a soldier by a police patrol team serving at the division.
Saturday Tribune findings revealed that the police patrol team was said to have earlier had a misunderstanding with a soldier serving at 31 Artillery Brigade, Minna, over allegation of brushing the police patrol team’s van on Thursday night.
It was further learnt that the soldiers, who were apparently angered by the allegation that the policemen had beaten the soldier and cracked his skull, as the solider alleged, went back to the barrack housing the Artillery Brigade and Training Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigeria Army on the outskirts of Minna, to mobilise his colleagues to attack the police station.
A reliable police source, however, told Saturday Tribune that the soldiers, who were in the police division between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Friday, stormed the police division and attacked the policemen on duty including the Divisional Police Officer, Ahmodu Aloko, whose plea was said to have fallen on the deaf ears of the soldiers.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Richard Adamu Oguche, confirmed the incident, saying immediately the police authorities in the state were informed about the incident at the command headquarters, Minna, an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation was dispatched to the scene, but was allegedly disallowed from entering the police division by the angry soldiers.
According to Oguche, the DPO was said to have been molested and the armory guards of the division allegedly disarmed by the soldiers.
He stated further that the policemen maintained their calm, saying that appropriate investigation would be conducted into the incident, describing it as unfortunate and unnecessary.
Also in his reaction, the Commander of the Brigade Command, Brigadier General Chris Ilogha, informed Saturday Tribune, in a telephone interview, that the incident was not a friction between the police and soldiers, adding that it started on Thursday night when a soldier and an officer’s wife were coming back from a Christmas Carol and their vehicle brushed the police patrol team’s van.