Taraba killing of policemen blamed on communication gap, non-compliance to procedures

HURIWA seeks N900m compensation for victims of banditry in Zamfara
Communication gap between personnel of Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and troops of the Nigerian Army led to the killing of three policemen and two civilians by soldiers along the Ibi-Wukari Road in Taraba State in August.

This was the submission of the investigation panel, which report also revealed that non-adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures (SAP) by both security operatives resulted in the incident.

Acting Director of Defence Information, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, who disclosed this yesterday, said the panel has made recommendations to the Nigerian Army and NPF with a view to forestalling a future reoccurrence and prosecute those culpable in accordance with the nation’s laws.

His words: “Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for immediate investigation of the incident that led to the killing of three policemen personnel and two civilians by troops of the Nigerian Army along the Ibi-Wukari Road in Taraba State, the Chief of Defence Staff, General A.G. Olonisakin constituted a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to investigate the incident.

“The seven-member BOI led by Rear Admiral Ibikunle Taiwo Olaiya as Chairman, comprised one representative each from the Defence Headquarters, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Defence Intelligence Agency, Nigeria Police and Department of State Service (DSS).”

He said the BOI also recommended that the NA and NPF should further investigate Captain Tijani Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim Mohammed, Corporal Bartholomew Obanye, DCO Ibi Police Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Aondoona Iorbee and Inspector Aliyu Dadje for negligence and necessary disciplinary action, among other recommendations.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, to pay N900m as compensation to families of the nine soldiers, who were killed by armed bandits in the state last week.

It also reasserted its total rejection of negotiations by Northern governors with armed bandits in Zamfara, Katsina and Niger states.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA linked the killing of the soldiers by armed bandits to illegality, anarchy and impunity created by the negotiations and decision to grant amnesty to killers by some Northern governors.

The stressed that it was wrong to permit a situation where hoodlums are treated like sacred cows, a situation that has snowballed into the killing of soldiers trained with tax payers’ money, insisting that the killing of the nine soldiers in Zamfara should not be swept under the carpet.