Police/SSS Engage Each Other In Gun Duel In Asaba

Pandemonium broke out in Asaba, the Delta State capital yesterday as men of the State Security Service (SSS) and the state Police command engaged in a gun duel. 

The sporadic shooting forced commuters going towards the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) premises, along the ever-busy Okpanam road, to scamper for safety. 

For close to 25 minutes, traffic flow in the vicinity stopped as people ran helter-skelter. 
The clash escalated at the SSS yard when Policemen attached to state's Commissioner for Transport, Ben Igbakpa, arrived.

The Nigerian Compass learnt that trouble started when members of a road traffic Task-Force set up by the state government swooped on the official vehicle of an Assistant Director of SSS who was driving against traffic along Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's Cabinet Office. The task force members seized his car keys. 

Irked by their action, the SSS Director was said to have put a call to his men who raced to the spot and manhandled the task force officials for "belittling their boss". 

"Within a twinkle of an eye, the SSS Director mobilised his men who invaded the area, shot sporadically into the air to intimidate the Task-Force members and then arrested them", an eyewitness told the Nigerian Compass. 

On being informed of the development, Igbakpa and his retinue of Police aides headed for the SSS yard. His arrival at the SSS enclosure triggered another round of crisis. 

The commissioner was reportedly angry at the condition he met the task force members as some were with swollen lips and tongues, with their eyes badly battered. 

This provoked another round of gun duel between the SSS men and the orderlies of the Commissioner before the matter was brought under control. 

Governor Uduaghan was said to have expressed disappointment at the development and wondered what would have happened if stray bullets from the gun shots had killed innocent citizens. 

The Commissioner, who confirmed the incident, told reporters: "They actually brutalised those boys before they were thrown into their detention. The Assistant Director drove against traffic and his car was impounded. But the matter has been resolved." 

While he maintained that nobody was above law, the commissioner called on the public to adhere strictly to the traffic regulations.