BY EMMA AMAIZE
KOKO — PANDEMONIUM broke out,
Monday, in Koko, Warri North Local
Government Area, Delta State, as
soldiers attacked and injured police
officers from Delta State Police Command, who were on escort duty
with the state Commissioner for
Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Anthonia
Ashiedu. The soldiers beat a police corporal, who
drove one of the police vehicles, to pulp
for allegedly blaring siren in the
premises of the Warri North Local
Government Council, which is close to a
military outpost. The corporal fainted because of the
severe beating and was rushed to
hospital for medical attention. At press time, junior police police
officers were spoiling for a showdown
with soldiers in the state, saying it has
become a tradition for soldiers to attack
police officers in the state without
justifiable reason. State Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Ikechukwu Aduba, confirmed to
Vanguard when contacted, saying the
soldiers accused the police officers of
blaring siren inside the secretariat of
the council. He said: “It is sheer brutality. I have
reported the matter to the Inspector
General of Police and contacted army
authorities in the state, but they said
they did not authorise the assault. “They told us that there is no bad
blood, but there is bad blood. Why did
they attack fellow uniformed men in
such a manner in the course of their
duty? We are making a formal report
on the incident. “My stand is that the soldiers
responsible for this attack should be
fished out and made to face the music.” A source who spoke to Vanguard said:
“The police officers from the B’
Operations Department of the Delta
State Police Command were on escort
duty with the Commissioner for
Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Anthonia Ashiedu. It was an empowerment
programme for the less privileged by
the state government and because she
was carrying some money for the
programme, they requested police
escort. The frog jump “As it is usual on such occasion, the
siren was on when they entered the
premises of Warri North Local
Government Coucil and about eight
soldiers came from a nearby outpost
and asked the police driver, Corporal Ekome, to frog-jump. “The police officer that led the team
came to tell the soldiers that they
should stop the confrontation, but the
soldiers attacked him, seized his rifle
and tore the button on his uniform. “With the atmosphere charged, more
soldiers joined their colleagues and
insisted that the police driver must frog
jump, which he resisted. “The soldiers descended on him,
ignoring the appeal from other police
officers to stop creating a bad
impression of Nigeria security officials
in the eyes of the public. “Some of the policemen wanted to
retaliate, but were prevailed upon by
the crowd, which watched the show of
shame with dismay. “The commissioner was shocked by the
incident as she stood watching without
knowing what to make out of the ugly
show of power.” A junior police officer said: “We are
waiting to know what the
Commissioner of Police and others will
do on this matter. If they sweep it
under the carpet, I can assure you that
we will attack soldiers in isolated places in the state because this is own is
getting too much. “Come to think of it, the job of internal
security is that of the police. If not
overzealousness, what is wrong in the
police blaring siren in the premises of a
local government council? Is that a
reason for soldiers to attack policemen?”
www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/soldiers-attack-policemen-in-delta/

The fear of soldiers is the beginning of wisdom, but i must truly say that this is an atrocity, am in a state of a metagrobolised melancholia with the soldiers because they are going berserk by jeopadizing the lives of the citizens, they are so notorious, this is truly a monstrosity, they are so outrageous always creating a paroxysm at all times, for nigeria to be a better place the soldiers have to create a camaraderie with the police than being pugnacious all the time, they should stop abusing their powers and protect the citizens than attacking them, this case needs to be looked upon by the federal government to avoid similar events in the future.