Taraba: Ekhomu flays killing of IRT operatives

President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operation of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has described the killing of three police detectives in Taraba State as preventable tragedy.

He said that the violence quotient in Taraba was too high, which played out on the Biu-Jalingo Highway on August 6.

Reacting to the shooting of three detectives with the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) by soldiers from 93 Battalion, Takun, Ekhomu said “the widespread use of the military in public law enforcement carries grave risks, as they are not trained for such duties.

“It should therefore be severely curtailed and the Nigeria Police Force empowered to carry out their constitutional duties.”

He said the military personnel used excessive force in trying to arrest the 10 police personnel who they mistook for kidnappers.

Ekhomu said the incident highlighted poor law enforcement tactics and poor inter-agency cooperation “particularly in the operational realm”.

The undercover agents suffer a lot of workplace violence, as they are often mistaken for hoodlums and attacked by members of the public and even by other law enforcement officers, he added.

His words: “In the Taraba projectile encounter, the detectives should have adequately informed police and military authorities that they were operating in the area.”

The security expert canvassed reduction in the use of the military for public law enforcement, to prevent reoccurrence of “blue on blue violence” (friendly fire incidents).