Details of the incident that led to the soldiers’ invasion of the police headquarters in Adamawa and the killing of a police inspector in Adamawa State have emerged.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how soldiers of the 23 Armoured Brigade in Adamawa on Tuesday night, invaded the police headquarters in Jimeta-Yola, and killed a police operative.
The state’s governor, Umaru Fintiri, described the incident as unfortunate. He appealed for tolerance among security agencies, describing the incident as unacceptable “at this time of peacebuilding”.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Afolabi Babatola, also condemned the incident. The police chief ordered an immediate investigation into the matter to ensure peace and justice.
PREMIUM TIMES obtained an internal memo of the police narrating what led to the attack on its facility.
According to the police, the incident was caused by a disagreement between three soldiers and police officers conducting routine checks on the road.
According to the memo, one of the soldiers traveling to neighbouring Taraba State was shot by the police for attempting to disarm a police officer during an altercation.
“There was an altercation between three soldiers on a pass from Taraba State while policemen attached to Jimeta Division were on routine stop and search at target junction via Yola North Local Government Area.
“One of the soldiers pulled a jack knife and ordered the policemen to vacate the road, in the process the soldier attempted to disarm the policemen as a result, one of the policemen fired a shot which eventually hit one of the soldiers on the leg.
“Immediately he was rushed to specialist hospital Jimeta-Yola for medical attention all efforts to reach both the Brigade commander of the 23 Armoured Brigade proved abortive as phones rang out without response.
“The military mobilised twelve armour trucks and attacked the state headquarters firing sporadically police men at the headquarters’ gate to prevent them from accessing the premises.
“It took the intervention of his excellency the executive governor of Adamawa State Rt Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri before they (soldiers) retreated.
“However, in the course of the incident, one inspector, Jacob Daniel attached to CID (Criminal Investigation Department) who was among the guards was shot dead and his rifle carted away by the military,” the police claimed in their internal memo.
The incident caused a panic in the area.
Security sources told PREMIUM TIMES that for the soldiers to mobilize 12 trucks to launch an attack on sister security agencies they must have gotten permission from their superiors, particularly the brigade commander, to do so.
But when contacted for comment, the spokesperson for the Armoured Brigade in Adamawa, Prince Ozoemenam, a lieutenant, referred our reporter to the army headquarters for comment.
The army’s spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, did not respond to phone calls and text messages to comment on the development days after he was contacted.
Also contacted, the spokesperson of the Office of the National Security Adviser, (ONSA) Zakari Mijinyawa, is yet to respond to our reporter to comment on the incident.
PREMIUM TIMES
