There was pandemonium and sporadic gunshots on Thursday afternoon in Dei-Dei, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as gunmen said to be police officers fired shots to disperse the FCT Mobile Court sitting in the area to try violators of the COVID-19 safety protocols.
The incident which happened at about noon was said to have thrown residents and motorists into confusion as everyone including the magistrate, prosecutors and other officials scampered for safety.
According to an eyewitness, trouble started when personnel of the FCT Ministerial Joint Enforcement Task-team on COVID-19 Restrictions arrested a policeman who gave his name as Agada Gabriel for the dual offences of not wearing a facemask in public and overloading his vehicle, a Gulf car with passengers.
The culprit who was arrested around the premises of the court was said to have called on his colleague, a certain Smart Jacob to help him resist his arraignment.
However, the two were subsequently charged for overloading and non-use of face masks and sentenced accordingly, but, they were said to have refused to pay their fines or engage in community service as directed by the Court.
According to eyewitnesses, the duo were said to have mobilized gunmen from the Mobile Police Barracks in Dei-Dei who stormed the court, shooting sporadically.
While the Presiding Magistrate, Theresa Otu, Court Prosecutor, Barr. Emmanuel T. Yatsegha and other court officials including a Correctional Service Personnel scampered for safety, the policemen were said to have dismantled the court’s canopy and vowed that they would no longer allow any court sitting in the area.
As of the time journalists got to the area, normalcy had been restored, but female personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) who was attached to the court was seen lamenting the loss of her mobile phone and handbag containing some valuables.
When contacted, Chairman of the Task-team, Ikharo Attah said he had been adequately briefed about the development and expressed confidence in the ability of the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma to apprehend the erring personnel and mete out appropriate sanctions.
Attah said;
“Yes, I have been briefed about the unfortunate development. The Head, Legal Department of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board AEPB, Barrister Cecilia Makoji called to notify me of the ugly incident.
“While I cannot give you details, I can assure you that the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr Bala Ciroma, who is our overall chairman and supervises our activities, is on top of the matter. As a no-nonsense man that the CP is, I want to plead with you to be rest assured that the matter would be handled appropriately.”
Attah had in April lamented the general lack of compliance to the safety protocols, stating that most of the serial violators are uniformed officers.
