Soldiers and Policemen Clash in Maiduguri over Relief Materials for IDPs

A gun battle between policemen and soldiers at the Borno State Government House in Maiduguri on Thursday forced people to run for their lives.

According to the Punch, the policemen and soldiers were fighting over rice meant for internally displaced persons.

The IDPs, had queued for hours to receive rice and other relief items, causing gridlock around the Government House area.

The situation turned violent when the soldiers that were deployed to maintain law and order during the distribution tried to help themselves to the relief materials.

The soldiers were said to have tried to force their way into the Deputy Governor’s Office, the place designated for the distribution, to get their vehicles filled.

An attempt by the mobile policemen attached to the office to prevent the soldiers from achieving their goal led to a shootout.

It was gathered that the soldiers fired several warning shots and the mobile policemen shot back in return, while also firing canisters of tear gas.

The conflict led to a stampede with many of the IDPs injured as they ran to safety.

It was also gathered that a policeman was shot in one of his legs in the gun battle.

It took the intervention of the Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Brig. Gen. Lucky Irabor, to get the furious soldiers to withdraw from the battle, which caused panic across Maiduguri.

It was gathered that Irabor, the most senior military officer around, and the Commissioner of Police, Aminchi Baraya, subsequently visited the injured policeman at the hospital.

The police and the army later released a joint press statement condemning the clash and suing for peace.

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