The cause of the clash that crippled socio-economic activities in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, among some soldiers and policemen yesterday has been linked to a woman.
The clash left four mobile police officers and one soldier dead with several others sustaining various degrees of injury.
Recall that sporadic gunshots in a conflict between the army and some policemen in Damaturu on Wednesday brought to a halt socio economic activities in the metropolis for several hours.
The State Mobile Commander, Dauda, was among those injured in the clash.
Dauda’s abduction by the soldiers in the early hours of Wednesday was said to have triggered the face-off between the two security agencies.
The face-off started when an Army Captain was accused by the mobile police of snatching their colleague’s girlfriend.
The policeman reportedly mobilised his colleagues and beat the Captain to comatose.
However, when information got to the soldiers of what happened to the Captain, they stormed the residence of the police team boss in the area in two patrol vans and took him to an unknown destination.
The situation went out of control when some mobile policemen also teamed up to confront the soldiers regarding the whereabouts of their Commander.
A mobile police officer at Yobe State Specialist Hospital, where the Mobile Commander is receiving treatment narrated how the incident started. He told Vanguard, “We received the news that our commandant, CSP Buba Dauda, was abducted by some soldiers and taken to Sasawa village and later taken to 233 Battalion in Damaturu.
“We then mobilised our men to rescue our commandant, although we did not know why he was abducted.
“In the process of rescuing him, we met with stiff resistance from the soldiers, which later resulted into full blown clash that left five people dead.
“We lost four of our men and we later discovered that our commandant, while in their custody, was shot in the abdomen.”
Also confirming the incident, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Kayode Ogunsanya, revealed that a joint committee, comprising military and police personnel, had been set up to look into the matter.
He said, “A joint committee between the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police has been set up to investigate the incident.
“This headquarters wishes to assure members of the public that the situation has been brought under control and normalcy restored.”
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