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The killing of three policemen by soldiers in Taraba State raises questions about integrity and professionalism of the Nigeria’s security apparatus.
A day after three policemen taking arrested kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Wadume, to the Nigerian Police state command headquarters in Jalingo, Taraba State were shot dead by soldiers on checkpoints, the Nigerian Army issued a statement saying the shooting was done in error. According to the Nigerian Army, the soldiers who allegedly responded to a distress call mistook the victims for kidnappers.

A statement issued by Nigerian Army spokesman, Sagir Musa, said the soldiers were responding to distress calls from residents of Ibi to rescue a kidnapped victim and refusal of the vehicle conveying the victims to stop at the three military checkpoints for identification caused the tragedy.
But the statement also made a revelation that had not been addressed. It said while the soldiers at the checkpoints pursued the fleeing “suspected kidnappers”, the deceased officers fired at the troops. “The flagrant refusal of the suspected kidnappers to stop at the three checkpoints prompted a hot pursuit of the fleeing suspects by the troops. It was in this process that the suspected kidnappers who were obviously armed opened fire at the troops sporadically thus prompting them to return fire,” the army said.
