BREAKING: Tension as Police Dare Army Over Lagos Clash, Accuse Soldiers Of Abduction

• The Lagos state police command has reacted to a report by the Army stating that the police officer killed by some soldiers first shot at them
• Benjamin Hundeyin, the command's spokesman, accused the army of attempting to twist what transpired and dared them to provide proof that a soldier was shot
• The police spokesman asked the army to fish out the soldiers behind the torture and murder of the deceased officer, and return weapons they carted away

Lagos, Nigeria - The Lagos state police command has challenged the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army to show proof that any soldier was shot during a recent clash between some cops and army personnel in the state.

Recall that Inspector Monday Orukpe attached to the Ojo Division of Lagos Police Command was beaten to death by aggrieved soldiers last week.

Read also

Insecurity: Will 2023 Election Hold? CDS Irabor gives final verdict

The officer and his colleagues were attacked by soldiers while controlling traffic on the Trade Fair section of the ever-busy Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

The soldiers, who were reportedly returning from a course, got infuriated when traffic on their lane was stopped to allow other road users easy passage.

An eyewitness, Sule Abiodun, said the soldiers jumped down from their vehicle, grabbed the policemen, and hauled them into their vehicle before zooming off.

The incident had created tension in the state, but an army delegation led by Brigadier-General KN Nwoko paid a condolence visit to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Abiodun Ablabi, last week.

Army trying to twist what happened, Lagos police spokesman

However, on Wednesday, August 10, police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, issued a statement in which he accused the army of attempting to twist what transpired.

Read also

Panic grips Abuja residents as chaotic scenes erupt at airport road

Hundeyin said in as much as the police command was in a grieving mood and had decided to toe the line of civility, it would not accept misinformation.

“The attention of the Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to a report credited to Major General Umar Musa, outgoing GOC 81 Division, claiming that a ‘police officer shot at the soldier during the altercation which clipped him in the ear but narrowly missed his vital parts.’

“The fact remains that on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, at the Trade Fair area of Lagos State, about thirty Privates of the Nigerian Army attacked five policemen for stopping vehicles along their lane to pave way for a heavy duty truck joining the expressway. After the soldiers had brutalized the ASP leading the team, taken out his magazine, and abducted two Inspectors with their rifles, the next Inspector they attempted to attack fired a single shot into the air – an act that made the soldiers retreat.

Read also

In Jos, Police recapture notorious fleeing inmate, 25 other suspects arrested

“The single shot was into the air. At no point was anyone hit. The Lagos State Police Command challenges the Army authorities to present the soldier allegedly shot. While we mourn our fallen hero, and pray for the total recovery of the second abducted Inspector, we urge Nigerians to disregard the claim that a soldier was shot as there is absolutely no truth to it," Hundeyin said in a statement posted on Twitter.

He added that the command was awaiting the report of the panel of inquiry set up by the Nigerian Army to investigate the immediate and remote cause of the incident.

The police spokesman also asked the army to fish out the soldiers behind the torture and murder of the deceased officer, and return “the two AK47 rifles and three magazines carted away by the soldiers”.

Police accuse prison officials of extortion before remanding suspects

Read also

Tension in northern state as gunmen attack convoy, murder 2 expatriates, 2 policemen, 2 drivers

In another report, the leadership of the Nigerian Police Force has decried the level of extortion carried out by officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The police alleged that the prison officials are engaged in acts of extortion before remanding suspecting on trial or those who have been sentenced.

Details of this allegation were found in a memo sent by the deputy commissioner of police at the Police Special Fraud Unit Ikoyi, Lagos, Ibrahim Zango to the controller general of the correctional service.

Source: Legit.ng