Daily Independent Online.
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Thursday, July 08, 2004.
26 policemen held hostage by Air Force officers in Lagos
By Maxwell Oditta,
Peter Edema, Stella
Odueme
and Victor Ebimomi
(Lagos)
Twenty
six police officers were on Wednesday held hostage by men of the Nigerian Air
Force (NAF) in Lagos, following an early morning clash between them at the Sam
Ethnam Base and a police detachment from Area ‘F’ Command, Ikeja.
Police
Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Emma Ighodalo, confirmed that no
lives were lost besides that of the Air Force officer whose death triggered the
clash the previous night.
He
said sequel to the killing of the officer, who had tried to obstruct police
duties around the vicinity of the Air Force base by preventing the arrest of
armed robbery suspects, his colleagues began to harass and arrest every one in
police uniform.
“Our
men were arrested as they tried to escape from the scene of the clash. They
were detained and brutalised. All of them are now in the accident and emergency
unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ighodalo explained.
Police
sources said the mayhem was a fallout of a late night clash between policemen
on patrol along the Ikeja-Mafoluku axis and Air Force personnel on guard
duties. An Air Force officer was killed when he and his colleagues tried to
prevent the arrest of persons the police described as hoodlums who they
adjudged as peace-loving neighbours.
The
police have refuted the talk about the policemen trying to extort money from
Indian hemp smokers who turned out to be Air Force personnel. It was alleged that some policemen had gone to a
shack near the base and accosted those they claimed were smoking hemp.
According
to sources, the policemen demanded money from the people or risk being
arrested. It was when the people refused to co-operate that one of them was
shot. That, reportedly, was the begining of the crisis.
Police
authorities dismissed the story insisting that no policeman has been identified
by the Air Force authorities as having kick-started trouble by demanding money
from their officers.
It
was learnt that the 26 arrested policemen were released to the Police
Commissioner Israel Ajao when he visited the Air Force base, accompanied by
Deputy Commissioner (Operations) John Haruna.
Despite
the long session he and senior Air Force personnel held on the clash and ways
to prevent a re-occurrence, tension still mounts in the vicinity of the Air
Force base and the Agege Motor Road where the flow of traffic was obstructed
for close to an hour amid a shoot-out between the feuding agencies.
An
eyewitness account said several police officers arrested by NAF officers were
taken to the Sam Ethnam Barracks for undisclosed reasons.
A
Mercedes Benz 230 E ash colour car with Lagos registration number, CG 219 JJJ,
believed to belong to Ajao, was vandalised by Air Force officers. The driver
and orderly were fortunate to escape but not after they were severely beaten.
Sensing
the turn of events, about 50 armed mobile policemen attempted to cross from the
force headquarters, but retreated on sighting the four pick up vans of the
Rapid Respond Squad (RRS) loaded with soldiers that arrived the scene in less
than 10 minutes.
The
RRS stood at strategic locations and even moved closer to the mobile police men
who retreated to avoid a head-on clash.
A
lorry load of Nigeria Navy officers, with registration number NN 36 B03, also
arrived the scene to complement the efforts of the RRS.
Officials
of the RRS and the Naval men had a meting and the scene became rowdy as
bystanders were driven away by soldiers.
As
part of the fall out of the clash,
Air Force personnel have taken over traffic control on Agege Motor Road,
Lagos and the adjoining roads, conducting stop and search on buses.
The
Air Force officers looked tough while conducting the search ostensibly to fish
out policemen in such buses.
The
death on Wednesday of the Air
Force man who was shot triggered a reprisal from his colleagues who attacked
every policeman in sight.
They
were also said to have gone to Area F Police Command in their quest to revenge
the death of their colleague.
A
police officer has been reportedly killed and those who have heard the news
expressed fear for the lives of those arrested.
The
atmosphere still looked charged on Wednesday as roadside traders, cycle riders,
operators of makeshift restaurants and pedestrians fled the area.
Most
of the traders lamented the presence of the Air Force officerss in the area as
having a negative impact on their businesses. “We cannot sell anything
here because every time you hear gunshots,” a woman said.
