Two police officers have been shot dead by soldiers in Taraba State.
The spokesman for the state police command, Abdullahi Usman, who confirmed the incident to journalists on Monday in Jalingo, said two other police officers are receiving treatment in a hospital for gunshot wounds.
Usman stated that the officers were killed following a misunderstanding between a female police officer attached to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre in Jalingo, and a soldier at a checkpoint near the centre.
He added that a commission of inquiry had been set up by the command to unravel the actual cause of the incident.
The spokesman said: “A very ugly incident happened this morning around 8:30 a.m. between a female police officer and a soldier. After the initial misunderstanding, the lady was allowed to proceed to her duty post, but later the soldier went back to drag her out.
“The thing is that he called for reinforcement from his office, and when it arrived, he had nothing to report and decided to create a situation.
“While we were trying to settle things and I was personally taken to one of the senior soldiers there, the soldiers suddenly started shooting. We were caught in the crossfire and had to run for our dear lives.
“One police officer who was going off duty was shot and killed instantly while another who was just reporting for duty and did not even know what was happening was also shot the moment they identified him as a policeman.”