Soldiers kidnap policemen to avenge colleague’s murder

Juliana Francis

People living at the Badagry area of Lagos State were almost paralysed with fear yesterday, when hundreds of angry soldiers stormed the roads, kidnapping any person in police uniform.

The soldiers were said to have taken to the roads after one of their colleagues was shot by a policeman on Sunday night. The soldier later died.

The Nigerian Compass gathered that most of the kidnapped policemen were dragged into an army barrack in Badagry. The kidnapped policemen would have been dealt with, but for the timely intervention of the commander of the army barrack, who implored the marauding soldiers to allow the law to take its course.

Eye witnesses accounts claimed that on Sunday night, at about 8pm, the victim was on his motorbike, when he was flagged down by four policemen who were on Stop and Search duty.

An argument was said to have broken out between the policemen and the soldier and before one could say Jack Robison, the policemen allegedly pounced on the soldier, beating him black and blue.

The soldier was said to have called him colleagues in the barrack with his phone to come to his rescue.

The news of the beating travelled like wildfire, and the commander of the barrack also got wind of the news and heard that some of his men were going for a reprisal attack. He quickly called them to order.

Unfortunately for the deceased however, the four policemen heard that soldiers were coming to attack them and without even sighting the soldiers, the policemen started shooting sporadically into the air.

The victim felt the area was becoming too hot and attempted to escape from where the policemen had ordered him to stay put. He was said to have been shot on the leg as he tried to escape. He later died.

When soldiers heard the that the victim was dead, they forgot their commander’s warning and took to the roads. The incident snowballed yesterday as they started kidnapping policemen on road and buses. Commercial activities were said to have been grounded.

Some policemen who heard that soldiers were on the rampage, thirsty for their blood, quickly removed their uniform, pretending not to be policemen.

The Nigerian Compass gathered that calm had almost been restored in the area, after the fuming soldiers learned that the four policemen had been arrested.

Police spokesman, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, for reasons yet unknown, refused to comment on the incident, even though he admitted being aware of the incident.