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Borno State govt has
since Monday distributed large amounts of rice and Semovita to poor residents.
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At least
one person was injured Thursday at the Borno State government house when
soldiers and police exchanged fire as they fought over food items distributed
by the government to mark the Ramadan fast.
Media report continues:
The government has since
Monday distributed large amounts of rice and Semovita to poor residents.
On Thursday, thousands of
people converged at the entrance of the government building in Maiduguri,
forming a lengthy queue of men, women and the aged who hoped for either a 25kg
bag of rice or Semovita, or both.
As the distribution
started, police barred vehicles from accessing the venue, except those on
special permission.
At about 11am, a Nigerian
Army truck showed up, insisting on gaining access to the venue where rice and
Semovita were being shared.
Suspecting that the
soldiers were trying to help themselves to the handouts, police officers
demanded they turn back immediately.
This led to an argument
and an angry soldier allegedly opened fire, injuring a policeman in the leg,
witnesses said.
The police responded and
gunshots rent the air as thousands gathered scampered for safety.
It took the intervention
of other senior security officers to prevent the situation from degenerating.
One of the army officers
drafted to help control the crowd, identified only as Idris, a lieutenant, did
not go free, as angry policemen who accused him of instigating the crisis, beat
him up.
The commander of the
operation Lafiya Dole, Lucky Irabor, a Major General, was called in by the
Borno State Attorney General, Kaka Shehu Lawan, to restore order.
Calm returned after Mr.
Irabor arrived alongside the state police commissioner and the director of
State Security Service.
Addressing the parties in
conflict, Mr. Irabor described the situation as “shameful and highly unbecoming
of uniformed officers.”
“What is a bag of rice
that will give you the cause to be angry? Bag of rice? It is shameful. If the
world hears that it is because of bag of that made police and soldiers to be
fighting, is it not shameful? Let us not behave like children: all of us have
children at home. Soldiers and policemen should be seen to be matured in their
dispositions at all times.”
He urged the conflicting
parties to calm down.
“While everyone is
clapping for good that we have been doing, let us not also do things that will
make them to begin to stone us. I want you to calm your nerves, because in a
family you are likely to find incidents of misunderstanding.”
As a result of the
incident, the government suspended the distribution of the freebies, leaving
expectant beneficiaries disappointed and frustrated.
The Borno state
government is expected to issue a statement later on whether the exercise will
continue.
The army also said it will be addressing a press conference to further state its position on the incident.
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