Tension in Port Harcourt as police and naval officers clash

– Tension in Port Harcourt as a result of the shootings between Mobile policemen and naval officers.

– Pedestians and notorists abandoned their cars and run away in different directions.

– The Rivers police public relations officer confirmed the incident.

There was tension among residents of Port Harcourt as a result of the shootings between men of Mobile Police Force (MOPOL) and officers of the Nigerian Navy on Tuesday, January 26.

PM News reports that the incident happened at about 6.pm around MOPOL barracks, off Mummy B road, the Rivers state capital.

According to The Punch, a vehicle carrying a group of naval operatives was held up in a gridlock along the ever-busy Mummy B road. Not satisfied with the development, some officers stepped out of the vehicle and headed to the point where they met Mobile policemen controlling the traffic.

A source, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “Surprisingly, an argument ensued between both of them and one Mobile policeman, who was in mufti, fired teargas and in the confusion one Navy operative was shot.

“There was blood everywhere around that point. But I believe the person that was shot must have been rushed to the hospital.”

One of the eyewitnesses who called into WAZOBIA/Info.fm radio programme said that he could not hear what caused the verbal exchange.

“A man suspected to be a Mobile Policeman sprayed a substance suspected to be teargas on the face of a military man. At that instant the military man cocked his rifle and shot a man in mufti. Within minutes other Mobile Policemen swarm the scene and tried to disarm him. In the ensuing melee shots were fired. I saw a military man running in blood stains,” he said.

Sounds of gunshots made motorists and pedestrians who were trapped in traffic jam to abandon their cars and run away in different directions.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Muhammad, the Rivers police public relations officer, confirmed that there was an incident between the police and Naval officers, adding that the matter was resolved. He noted that there was no casualty in the clash that lasted for half and an hour.