An Army corporal has killed a Mobile Police Officer,
Sergeant Rowland Tafida in Borno State.
The homicide occurred after a face-off at Makara Area of
Gwoza Local Government Area (LGA).
The corporal opened fire on the deceased and his colleagues
with an Anti-Aircraft Gun (AAG). The shooting also damaged some facilities at
the Limankara Police Training Camp.
Tafida was among the MOPOL Special Forces Team deployed to
Gwoza last August, on counter-insurgency operations and would have completed
his six months anti-terrorism operation on February 8, 2020.
Rowland, a father of two young girls, had already planned to
depart Borno this weekend after his tour of duty.
An eyewitness told PRNigeria that the killing was “unfortunate
and disheartening”. He recalled that the whole drama started with a shouting
match between the soldier and another Police personnel over a girlfriend.
The eyewitness said: “Some people intervened and settled the
matter when the aggrieved Army corporal asked a driver of an anti-aircraft gun
Hilux belonging to his military base, to turn and face the Limankara Police
Training Camp.
“Immediately after turning the vehicle, they opened fire and
shot at the Camp’s facility. It was at that moment, Rowland Tafida, the late
police sergeant, was killed by a stray bullet because he was not involved in
the earlier altercation.
“The blast of the anti-aircraft vehicle totally disfigured
his left leg thigh as he was returning to the camp after he went to charge his
phone somewhere.
“The MOPOL officer could have survived the terrible assault,
but nobody could take him to a medical facility as he lay in his own pool of
blood, bleeding profusely and bled to death.”
Another eyewitness, a woman, revealed how other police
officers at the Limankara camp swiftly mobilized and protested.
She added that it took the intervention of an Army major,
who is the most senior officer in the location, to douse the tension.
“It was the Army major that came out to beg the aggrieved
MOPOL personnel. He was the one who restored order and normalcy, otherwise, a
mayhem would have erupted.
“After begging the police officers, the major arrested the
killer corporal, and thereafter, the Army Theatre Command, contacted the Borno
Police Command.”
The deceased’s aunt, Mrs. Zwancit Dazang, said neither the
Police or the Army have informed them of Rowland’s death.
She said their son was on his way to the Police camp at
Limankara, last Sunday afternoon, without knowledge of what earlier transpired
between his fellow MOPOL officer and the killer soldier.
“We only got to know about our son’s tragic death in the
social media. He was dressed in combat boots, jeans and a MOPOL T-shirt, with
his rifle strapped on his shoulder, when he was shot”, Dazang said.
“The anti-aircraft truck is a lethal ammunition that can
bring down a plane or helicopter from the sky; it can even destroy an armoured
tank. That a soldier will use it to eliminate an innocent, but a fellow
security officer like him, is unimaginable.
“A vibrant Police officer, with a very young family, was
deliberately killed. His life wasted just like that. What was his fault? He
wasn’t killed while fighting terrorists but by a soldier while walking,
unprovoked and also did not provoked anyone. So, why take his life? That is
barbaric, and wicked
“As I speak to you now, the late Rowland’s wife is
emotionally-broken. She has not seen her husband for so long. And both she and
their two lovely daughters, ages 5 and 2, were looking forward to a reunion
with their husband, and father, before tragedy struck.
“What has Rowland done for anyone to take his life? The
soldier who killed Rowland must be brought to book. Our son was there in Borno
to defend his country. So, why should he be eliminated by someone he never
hurt, or offended?”
It was gathered that the military and the police
constituted a joint fact-finding committee to probe the incident and have
apprehended the culprit.
He was taken to the Maimalari Barrack in Maiduguri, while
the military has taken responsibility for the damaged facilities at the Police
camp.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
this story is not complete ,pls tell nigerians the name of the killer ,is he on the side of the religion of peace
ReplyDelete