Soldiers, Civilian JTF Clash In Adamawa

Pandemonium ensued in Yola, the Adamawa State capital
on Friday, disruptimg business activities at the popular
Jimeta shopping complex, as soldiers and civilian JTF
members clashed inside the complex.

The development forced shops owners to close for the day
for fear of being killed following the sporadic shooting by
the armed soldiers in the market.

An eyewitnesses said trouble started when a group of
soldiers in mufti arrived the shopping complex in search
of a runaway sister of one of them.

The eyewitness noted that on arrival in the shopping
complex , the soldier went straight to a shop owner, whom
they suspected was hiding the girl who did not sleep at
home the previous night.

He said the soldier inquired from the shop owner where
he was hiding their sister and the shop owner directed
them to where to meet her.

He further narrated that the soldiers, after accepting the
direction of the shop owner, were on their way out of the
shopping complex when they met a military Hilux vehicle
loaded with soldiers.

According to him, when they narrated their experience to
their colleagues in uniform, they were told to go back to
the shop owner for proper inquiries about the runaway
sister.

He said it was at this stage that the Chairman of the
Civilian JTF in the shopping complex, Bako Ali Kurna,
arrived to stop the fracas between the soldiers and the
shop owner.

The eyewitness said the plea by the JTF chairman did not
go down well with the armed soldiers and in the ensuing
confusion, the chairman of the civilian JTF was shot at
four times, but the bullets could not penetrate him.

He noted that a police Inspector overseeing the gate of the
shopping complex was hit in the nose by a stray bullet and
was now receiving medical attention at an undisclosed
hospital .

He said in the ensuring confusion and as the crowd
continued to increase , the armed soldiers led by a
Lieutenant started shooting sporadically into the air to
scare away the surging crowd.

Our source added that before the soldiers zoomed off, the
chairman of the civilian JTF, Bako Ali who attempted to
alert the 23 Amoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army had
his handset snatched by the fleeing soldiers.

The Chairman of the civilian JTF at the shopping complex
confirmed the development adding that a report has been
lodged with the military and SSS while the shells of the
expended bullets have been lodged with the SSS.

However the Army authorities of the 23 Armoured Brigade
in Yola have confirmed the clash between the soldiers and
the civilian JTF but added that a full scale investigation
was in progress.