The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has ordered the immediate arrest of a team of policemen from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Lagos State over the shooting of three persons, including a Federal Road Safety Corps official.
The shooting spree was said to have happened in Abuja while the team was returning from an investigation in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
According to a police source, the team was led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police, simply identified as Rex.
It was heard that as the team was heading back to Lagos from Abuja, they reached a part of the Abuja road where construction was going on.
There they met a traffic gridlock.
There were FRSC officials on the road, controlling traffic.
The FRSC officials had also blocked part of the road, easing motorists through a single lane.
Apparently tired of the snail pace of the whole drive, the SARS team came down from their bus and flung away the barricade, which the FRSC officials had placed on the road.
This did not go down well with the FRSC officials and soon there was an argument and before anyone knew what happening, one of the policemen opened fire.
A bullet was said to have hit one of the FRSC officials, while two more bullets got a bus conductor and a passerby.
When the six members of the team were arrested, Rex and others had initially wanted to all accept the blame.
But when it dawned on them that the IG was not taking the shooting incident with levity, Rex had had to make a tough decision.
He picked the shooter from among his men.
The shooter has been identified as Corporal Abdulazzez Alabe.
A police source revealed that after the shooting, the policemen, realizing they had injured people and possibly killed, bolted from the scene.
Since they were not in uniform, but each had a rifle with him, many thought they were robbers and alerted the Joint Task Force.
A description of the vehicle was also given.
Just when the team thought they had escaped, the JTF stopped them at Lokoja, Kogi State.
When the team realized that the JTF were taking them as robbers fleeing from Abuja, they identified themselves and presented their identity cards.
They were handed over to the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command, who moved them to Abuja.
They were all disarmed and detained.
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