Police, Immigration officials engage in shootout in Maiduguri

The Borno Police and Immigration officials in an unexpected turn of events are said to have engaged each other in a wild shootout in Maiduguri, the state capital on Friday.

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A security analyst and counter insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this in a statement on X with the confrontation involving different caliber of firearms which incited fear among local residents.

Makama said that the clash took place at a police outpost within a housing estate alongside the Maiduguri-Kano highway.

He said that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has been occupying this outpost since 2014, due to a previous abandonment following repeated attacks on security personnel.

Makama added that recently, the Borno State Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Yusuf, ordered divisional police officers to reclaim all abandoned police outposts as part of an initiative to enhance the city’s security.

A police officer told Makama that the Bulunkutu Division police officers had intended to reclaim the outpost from the immigration officials.

“However, their attempt led to a chaotic situation when the NIS personnel denied them access. The immigration officials were surprised by the sudden morning invasion without any prior notice,” Makama said.

“As a result, they decided not to leave the outpost, even though it was marked with the Nigeria police insignia.

“The situation escalated when both parties began firing their rifles into the air, causing panic among the residents of the 777 housing estate.”

Makama said many residents of the Estate who mistook the confrontation for a Boko Haram attack, fled for their lives.

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According to him, the situation was eventually deescalated by nearby Nigerian Army troops from the 33 Artillery, who intervened and calmed both the police and NIS officials.

Additionally, a mediation team from the Crack Division, led by CSP Mohammed Ibrahim, was dispatched by the Commissioner of Police to address the disagreement between the two parties.