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Nigerian Police, Army Clash In Bayelsa Over Traffic Offence, Kill Two Civilians

The incident was said to have been triggered by traffic offence.

Some officers of the Nigerian Army and operatives of the Bayelsa State Police Command have reportedly shot dead two persons in Yenagoa, the state capital, during an altercation between the two security agencies.
The incident was said to have been triggered by traffic offence.

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Tribune reports that the yet-to-be-identified military men and mobile police officers attached to the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service engaged in a gun battle over a traffic offence argument at the ever-busy Tombia-Etegwe Roundabout in Yenagoa.
It was reported that fight had erupted after a soldier on mufti driving a van against traffic was accosted and ordered to step down from the van by the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service for driving against traffic laws.
An argument was said to have ensured leading to the slapping of the soldier by the traffic officers.
According to reports, it was after the slaps that traffic offender introduced himself as a soldier, and threatened to deal with the vigilante members and policemen at the scene.

An eyewitness said “when they discovered that the man is a soldier they pleaded, with him to let the matter go. He pretended to have accepted the apology and drove off. A few minutes later, the soldier returned with two of his colleagues.
“And this time, he was on uniform. Without any form of warning, they swooped on the policemen and started hitting them with the butt of their rifles. The fighting continued until one of the mobile policemen successfully disarmed one of the soldiers. It was at that point the other soldiers started shooting sporadically.

“We all scampered for safety. When everywhere was calm, I came out of hiding and discovered that two persons that were by the roadside had sustained fatal gunshot injuries from the shoot-out, found out that the soldier had fled the scene.”

It was learnt that the two injured civilians are currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Yenagoa, while the Bayelsa State Police Command are yet to issue a statement about the incident.

All efforts to speak with the state police Command on the incident were unsuccessful.