Description

Two innocent passersby, on Monday, sustained fatal gunshot injuries when yet-to-be-identified military men and mobile police officers attached to the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service engaged in a gun battle over a traffic offence argument at the ever-busy Tombia-Etegwe Roundabout in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
According to an eyewitness account, the fight erupted after a soldier on mufti driving a van against traffic was said to have been accosted and ordered the soldier to step down from the van by the Bayelsa State Vigilante Service for driving against traffic laws.

Tribune Online further gathered that it was after receiving the slaps that the alleged traffic offender introduced himself as a soldier, and threatened to deal with the vigilante members and policemen at the scene.
A trader at the roundabout who spoke on condition of anonymity explained that “when they discovered that the man is a soldier they pleaded with him to let the matter go. He pretended to have accepted the apology and drove off. A few minutes later, the soldier returned with two of his colleagues.
“And this time, he was on uniform. Without any form of warning, they swooped on the policemen and started hitting them with the butt of their rifles. The fighting continued until one of the mobile policemen successfully disarmed one of the soldiers. It was at that point the other soldiers started shooting sporadically.

“We all scampered for safety. When everywhere was calm, I came out of hiding and discovered that two persons that were by the roadside had sustained fatal gunshot injuries from the shoot-out, found out that the soldier had fled the scene.”

It was learnt that the two injured civilians are currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Yenagoa, while the Bayelsa State Police Command are yet to issue a statement about the incident.