A police officer identified as Sergeant Rowland Tafida was killed, when a soldier allegedly shot him with an anti-aircraft gun (AAG), after a heated argument in Makara, Gwoza Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State.

The deceased policeman, who was a father of two kids, was among the MOPOL Special Forces Team deployed to Gwoza in August last year on counter-insurgency operations. He would have completed his sixth month of anti-terrorism operation on Saturday, February 8, 2020 before his death on Saturday, February 1, 2020.

According to an eyewitness account to PRNigeria,

The whole drama started with an altercation between the army corporal and another police personnel over a girlfriend.

Some people intervened and settled the matter when the aggrieved army corporal asked a driver of an anti-aircraft gun Hilux belonging to his military base, to turn and directly face the Limankara Police Training Camp.

Immediately after turning the vehicle, they opened fire and shot at the Camp’s facility. It was at that moment, Rowland Tafida, the late police sergeant, was killed by a stray bullet because he was not involved in the earlier altercation. The blast of the anti-aircraft vehicle totally disfigured his left leg thigh as he was returning to the camp after he went to charge his phone somewhere.

The young MOPOL officer could have survived the terrible assault, but nobody could take him to a medical facility as he lied in his own pool of blood, bleeding profusely and bled to death.

A woman who also confirmed the ugly incident, said rising tension followed after police officers at Limankara camp stormed the scene of the incident to protest against the killing of one of their own.

She said;

It was the army major that came out to beg the aggrieved MOPOL personnel. He was the one who restored order and normalcy, otherwise, a mayhem would have erupted.

After begging the police officers, the major arrested the “killer” corporal, and thereafter, the Army Theatre Command, contacted the Borno Police Command.

The army officer who committed the crime has been reportedly arrested and taken to Maimalari Barrack in Maiduguri.

The deceased’s aunt, Zwancit Kuba also took to Facebook to mourn him. She wrote;

My dear son Rowland Tafida was brutally murdered at Makara in Maiduguri on Sunday by an Army personnel. Oh Lord ,we need justice. Enough of this continuous insensitive and senseless killings of innocent citizens. My dear Row I am still in great shock over your senseless murder. Rest in peace my dear son. Love you always,
Momma
as you fondly used to call me.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.