In what can rightly be described as a mad evening in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, officers and men of the Nigerian Navy and the Police, for several hours, engaged each other in a gun battle that shook the state capital to her bones, www.calitown.com can authoritatively reveal.
Trouble is believed to have started when an altercation between a Naval and Police personnel resulted in the dastardly shooting of the Naval personnel by a yet to be identified Police man. The shooting may have irked Naval personnel mostly drawn from the nearby Akim Navy Barracks who went on rampage, burning first, the Traffic Police post in front of the U.J Esuene Stadium, before launching a series of attacks on the nearby Akim Police Station, seriously injuring a senior Police officer before further attacks resulted in the death of another three police officers, as at press time.
Incessant sporadic gun fire rent the air as both parties engaged each other in a supremacy battle that obstructed human and vehicular traffic for a greater part of Tuesday evening. Men suspected to be from the Navy, chased on looking civilians, smashed abandoned vehicles and barricaded the very busy IBB Way, Calabar, in what can be termed a commando-like operation. As heavy gunfire continued to rent the air, residents of nearby areas abruptly closed shops and took to their heels. At the U.J Esuene Stadium, the www.calitown.com news crew was endlessly chased by men suspected to be from the Navy as we attempted to take pictures of the mayhem and record an accompanying video.
Calabar based civil rights lawyer, James Ibor, who engaged www.calitown.com, on this unfortunate incident believes, “…it is out of place for the Navy and the Police to engage each other in an ignoble battle of supremacy. A traffic post and the Akim Police Station, built with tax payers’ money have both been unfortunately destroyed; this is unacceptable. I had expected that when this mess began, our governor would have summoned the hierarchy of the Navy and Police, immediately effecting the arrests of officers and men immediately identified and this would have served as a deterrent to other officers and men. You know civilians who had nothing to do with this messy situation have been caught in it and unless something is drastically done and sincerely too, the future for our children is bleak”.
At press time, sporadic gunfire can still be heard from IBB Way, where the Navy and Police live on opposite sides of the road. Government is also yet to react as she is believed to be presently engaged in preparations to welcome Acting-President, Yemi Osibanjo, wh begins a working visit to Calabar, tomorrow, June 1, 2017.
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