Residents of Yola were alarmed when gunmen reportedly broke into the Adamawa State Police Headquarters in Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area, early on Wednesday morning.
The state police public relations officer, SP Suleiman Nguroje, reportedly confirmed the attack but insisted that everything was under control, according to the Daily Trust.
“The attack was repelled, but the identities of those behind it were unknown,” stated Nguroje.
According to a source cited by the publication, the attackers were military members seeking retribution for what they believed to be the police’s supposed assassination of a military official.
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The police stated that investigations were ongoing to determine the reason for the attack and those responsible, despite the newspaper’s claim that it was unable to independently confirm whether military troops were involved.
Recall that last Friday at the anti-graft agency’s Kaduna Zonal Command, there was a confrontation between representatives of the Nigerian Air Force and EFCC officials.
It was said that the NAF staff rushed the commission’s office, hoping to free their colleagues who had been detained by EFCC agents earlier for allegedly trying to forcefully release fraud suspects from detention.
The state’s anti-graft office announced that on Monday, its agents detained five individuals at a restaurant in the Barnawa region of the state after receiving reliable information about their purported involvement in online fraud.
The names of the suspected fraudsters are Favour Itung, Rachael Ande, Zuleiman Haruna, Abubakar Ismaila, and Solomon Olobatoke, according to a statement issued on Friday by EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale.
However, the EFCC reported that six military personnel who were present during the sting operation assaulted the restaurant’s Kaduna Command and attempted to forcefully release the fraud suspects who had been apprehended. However, they were restrained and imprisoned due to the security breach.
Four Air Force personnel—Lawal Abdullahi, Chukwuma Christian, Alfa Suleiman, and Emmanuel Ekwozor—as well as two students from the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology, Chidera Anuba and Joseph Tokula, are said to be the invaders, according to the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC further stated that interagency talks and contact were held while the detainee was being held by the EFCC and NAF leadership in order to settle the issue.
Sadly, negotiations to free the rebellious Air Force soldiers fell down on Friday, November 17, 2023, when several misbehaving NAF officers assaulted the Kaduna Command in a commando fashion in an attempt to forcibly free their jailed colleagues.
“The EFCC showed restraint in the face of the egregious misuse of authority and provocation.
“The Commission proceeded to communicate with the Nigerian Air Force leadership and, following a proper profiling, released the personnel to the NAF Provost.
“The EFCC wants to reassure the public that it will keep up its legal duty to investigate all cases of financial and economic crimes, without interference or delay.”
