Nigerian Soldier Attacks, Beats Policeman To Coma
A police constable, Abdullahi Kabiru, has been injured by a soldier identified as Corporal Martins in Lagos.
It was gathered that Martins is attached to the Nigerian Army College of Nursing (NACON) while the affected policeman is a student in the military school.
Kabiru was said to have incurred the wrath of the soldier after breaking a glass at the entrance of the school.
Despite repairing the broken glass, a source told SaharaReporters that Martins descended on the policeman and inflicted injuries on him.
The source further accused soldiers attached to the school of being fond of intimidating and harassing people.
The source said, “It happened that the nursing student or student nurse mistakenly broke a small glass at the entrance of the school, and he immediately repaired it. Despite this, Martins and his colleagues still beat and injured the student. He was hit on the head and other parts of his body.
“Military men should stop treating people like animals; we are in a democratic dispensation. The policeman was seriously injured as he was hit with a stick by Corporal Martins. We need this army brutality, especially at the Nigerian Army College of Nursing to stop. I pray that parents don’t start seeing the corpses of their children studying here soon.”
There is an ugly history of clashes between police personnel and soldiers in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Army in 2021 accused police officers of killing and brutalising some of its personnel.
In a letter dated November 23, 2021, to all formations and units, the then-Chief of Army Staff called on military officers to “forward all recorded incidence of police brutality against personnel of the Nigerian Army.”
The letter exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters was signed by Major General J. A. Ataguba and titled, ‘Evaluating Incidences Of Police Brutality Against Personnel Of Nigerian Army.’
“The NA is constitutionally tasked to provide aid to civil authorities when called upon. This responsibility has occasioned conducting joint activities with members of the civil and paramilitary organizations. These joint operations with other security agencies particularly the Nigerian Police (NP) create occasions for the police to equate its hierarchy with the NA and this has often led to friction, especially at the lower levels,” the letter had read.
“This friction has occasionally led to bodily harm and in some cases death to our troops. This is in spite of the fact that the victims have been identified and established to be serving personnel.
“This Dept is therefore conducting an evaluation of these occurrences with a view to establishing the frequency and recommend possible remedial measures to stem the tide.
Consequently, all NA corps, formations and establishments are please requested to forward all recorded incidence of police brutality against personnel of the NA.
“The report should cover the last 2 years. Returns to reach this NLT 8 December 21 and should be forwarded using enclosed formal.”
