Drunk policeman shoots down soldier in Borno Palace

A drunk policeman has gunned down a Warrant Officer of the Nigerian Army attached to the Hadin Kai, Donatus Vonkong, in Borno state.

The unfortunate incident occurred at the Shehu of Borno Palace in Maiduguri.

Multiple sources confirmed that the incident, saying the yet-to-be-identified policeman was under the influence of alcohol, Daily Trust reports.

The development caused pandemonium in the area as aggrieved youths vowed to hunt down policemen seen in the area.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Jimmy Akpor, called for calm, saying the incident did not portray inter-agency conflict and can therefore be treated an an isolated case.

According to the military spokesman, there are mechanisms for handling such cases among all the security agencies, noting that thorough investigations will be launched to prevent recurrence.

He said, “In any case, when things like this happen, it could be accidental, but there are procedures for handling such issues. It does not suggest inter-agency conflicts. This is an isolated issue, and when they do occur, the various services have mechanisms for handling them.

“And I’m very sure that Operation HADIN Kai will investigate and carry out the necessary clear mechanism to ensure that it does not happen again. The most important thing is that we guide against future occurrences.

“There are mechanisms for handling such issues, it does not in any way portray conflicts between the military and the police. After all, they are all deployed together for the overall efforts of counter-insurgency operations over there”.