Three persons were feared killed yesterday in the commercial city of Aba,Abia State , in the aftermath of a shootout between soldiers and mobile policemen.
Many others were wounded in the pandemonium that followed the shootout at the popular Osisioma Junction in the city.
The identities of the victims could not be immediately confirmed.
The cause of the clash could not also be ascertained.
However,residents recalled that a similar confrontation between soldiers and policemen in the area in 2015 claimed the life of a policeman.
A trader, Chinyere Ikem, said that the unexpected shooting forced people,including road side hawkers, to scamper for the safety of their lives .
He claimed to have seen a lorry load of armed policemen arrive the scene that was already charged .
Ikem said passengers who had gone to a nearby motor park to board vehicles to different parts of the country were left stranded.
โIt was like we were watching a movies,โ he said of the bloody clash.
โIt happened in a flash and before you knew what was happening, trucks of army and police vans were everywhere.
โPolicemen and soldiers were locked in a shooting exchange. From what we later heard, two policemen and a soldier died in the gun duel.โ
There was no immediate response from the police and the army.
Neither replied to the text message sent to them.
However , the Abia State Government in a statement through Information Commissioner John Okiyi said the state received with sadness โdisturbing reports of an unfortunate confrontation between a group of soldiers and police officers at the Osisioma area of Aba.โ
Okiyi who said that the state government was working with heads of security to bring the situation under control also promised that investigation was ongoing to know the cause of the incident and to fish out those behind the incident.
He said: โWe are working with the heads of the concerned security agencies in the state to ensure that the situation, which has been brought under control, does not repeat itself or escalate within the state.
โGovernor Okezie Ikpeazu has also directed full investigation of the circumstances that led to the breach of public peace with a view to preventing future occurrence of such armed confrontation that endanger the lives of innocent citizens and security agents working in the state.
โWhile we are currently working with law enforcement agencies to review the immediate and remote cause of the incidence, members of the public are advised to go about their normal duties as the situation around the area has been pacified.
