Yesterday in Owerri, Imo State, a policeman attached to First bank located in the Douglas road part of the town, shot an air force officer who was in the bank to conduct some transactions.
According to Punch, the clash ensued when the soldier wanted to make use of one of the Automated Teller Machines on the bank premises, but was prevented from doing so by one of the policemen guarding the bank.
The policeman reportedly told the officer he was not allowed to bear any firearm inside the bank premises
One of the eyewitnesses said;
“The air force man, on hearing the reason he was prevented from using the ATM, got angry and resisted the policeman,”
An argument was said to have ensued, which degenerated to a fight and the air force officer was shot.
Colleagues of the injured officer, who later learnt about what befell one of them, mobilised and returned to the bank shooting into the air. They confronted the policemen and a fight then ensued.
There was panic in the area and other banks – Fidelity, Skye, Zenith and Diamond – on the street immediately shut down operations, while traders on the road closed shops.
Some senior police officers and officers of the Military Police later intervened to restore peace, as the injured air force officer was rushed to a hospital.
The First Bank branch, where the incident occurred, was forced to close for the day, as armed policemen cordoned off the facility and denied customers access to the premises.
Fights between policemen and other armed security agencies, mostly soldiers, are common in the country. The police in Owerri have been accused of high-handedness and being trigger-happy. In February 2016, doctors shut down all government-owned hospitals in the town after a policemen shot a doctor in the head during a peaceful protest.
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