- The Nigeria Police Force said on Thursday that the Nigerian army lied in the statement it issued concerning the killing of its personnel and a civilian by soldiers in Taraba State.
The Nigeria Police Force said on Thursday that the Nigerian army lied in the statement it issued concerning the killing of its personnel and a civilian by soldiers in Taraba State.
Frank Mba, police spokesperson, on Thursday, in a statement made available to Daily Independent, faulted the claims by the army.
Recall that crisis erupted within the rank and file of security agencies when, on August 6, 2019, troops of the 93 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Takum, pursued and exchanged fire with some suspected kidnappers who indeed turned out to be an Intelligence Response Team from the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, on a covert assignment from Abuja.
The shootout resulted in the death of some members of the team.
The army officers were believed to be responding to a distress call to rescue a kidnapped victim when they started exchanging fire with the suspected kidnappers along Ibi-Wukari Road in Taraba State.
A statement by Colonel Sagir Musa, Acting Director of Army Public Relations, which gave further insight into the incident, noted that the suspected kidnappers numbering about ten and driving in a white bus with Reg No, LAGOS MUS 564 EU, refused to stop when they were halted by troops at three consecutive checkpoints.
He explained that the refusal of the suspected kidnappers to stop at the three checkpoints prompted a hot pursuit by the troops.
It was in this process that the suspected kidnappers, who were obviously armed, opened fire at the troops – an action which prompted them to return fire.
He said four suspects were consequently shot and that they died on the spot while four others sustained gunshot wounds. Two others were said to be missing.
According to Col Musa, it was only later that one of the wounded suspects disclosed that they were indeed policemen dispatched from Force Headquarters, Abuja, for a covert assignment.
He said following inquiries from a police station officer who was asked by the commander of the army troops whether he was aware of any Nigeria police team being dispatched to operate in the LGA, the Divisional Police Officer of Ibi Police Division responded that he was not informed of any operation by Force Headquarters, thus lending credence to the distress call from members of the community who had claimed that the men were suspected kidnappers.
However, Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), said the murdered police officers actually identified themselves to the soldiers, saying that the statement by the army was meant to justify their unprovoked killing of the police personnel.
“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to the press release by the Nigerian army dated August 7, 2019, seeking to justify the unprovoked and unwarranted murder of three police officers and one civilian, and inflicting serious injuries to other operatives, who were on legitimate criminal investigation activities to Taraba State, to arrest one Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume indicted in a series of high-profile kidnap incidents in the state.
“In the best tradition of esprit de corps, inter-agency harmony and national interest, the Nigeria Police Force would naturally have kept quiet, but it has become imperative to set the record straight by addressing the obvious distortion of facts inherent in the press release by the Nigerian army.
“The most important question arising from the Nigerian army press release is: Where is Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume? Alhaji Hamisu Bala Wadume is a millionaire kidnapper arrested by the police but paradoxically treated as a ‘kidnap victim’ by the soldiers and subsequently ‘rescued’ by them. Where is he? Where is the rescued kidnapper?
“Secondly, the press release was silent on the source of the alleged distress report or identity of the complainant, on the strength of whose report, the army claimed had informed their decision to engage in the purported chase and rescue operation.
“Needless to state that in the true spirit of transparency and accountability, the Nigerian army ought to have arrested the purported distress caller – if any – for obviously and deliberately furnishing them with false and misleading information. Besides, such arrest should in fact be made public!
“Thirdly, it is not true that the policemen failed to identify themselves as alleged in the press release. The video on the incident, now viral, wherein the voice of one of the soldiers was heard loudly proclaiming that the policemen were from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, speaks volume.
“Besides, the presence of the IRT personnel was well known to the Taraba Police Command as the operatives officially and properly documented not only at the state command headquarters but also at the Wukari Area Command and the Ibi Divisional Headquarters. As a matter of fact, some of the detectives from the Taraba State Command’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) were part of the operation.”
The police image maker said that it was disrespectful of the army to call policemen on legal duty suspected kidnappers.
“The Force also considers it insensitive, disrespectful and unpatriotic for the press release by the army to continue to describe policemen on lawful national assignment as ‘suspected kidnappers’ long after it had become crystal clear to the army that these are law enforcement officers who unfortunately were gruesomely murdered in the line of duty by Nigerian soldiers attached to 93 Battalion, Takum.”
Mba challenged the Nigerian army to produce the suspected kidnapper that they ‘rescued’, asking rather rhetorically how the well handcuffed suspect could as well possibly escape from the soldiers.
Meanwhile, the killing of the three undercover police personnel, including a civilian, in Taraba State may have prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to summon a National Security Council meeting on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, which held behind closed doors inside the president’s office, afforded him the opportunity to get firsthand information about the unfortunate killings.
Sources privy to the meeting said the president ordered that a committee be set up immediately to dig further into the incident, while the committee’s secretariat would be domiciled at the defence headquarters.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, told State House correspondents that beyond the killing, Buhari was impressed with the performance of the security chiefs, especially the strategy they have deployed in tackling insecurity.
The Chief of Air Staff, while giving insight into the agenda of the meeting at the instance of the president, said:
“This brief is just to acquaint you with the issues discussed during the National Security Council meeting.
“The Council evaluated the current strategy of managing internal security operations all over the country and we are satisfied with the current efforts, we are making substantial progress in all the areas of conflicts.
“The council also decided that concerning the unfortunate incident in Ibi, Taraba State, a committee will be setup under the defence headquarters to critically look into the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident.
“Finally, we also want to assure Nigerians that the armed forces of Nigeria and other security agencies would continue to work to ensure the security of Nigerians and to also ensure that no individual or group of individuals undermine the territorial integrity of Nigeria. That, in a nutshell, is the outcome of this meeting.”
When asked if the council discussed the issue of using technology and drones to fight crimes as earlier pledged to the South West leaders, the Chief of Air Staff said: “Technology will continue to play a very critical role in resolving security challenges in Nigeria.
“All the services are using one technology or another in order to ensure that our country is secured.”
