Armed soldiers and armed policemen clashed on Thursday, at Udensi Roundabout, Abakaliki, over violation of traffic light rule.
The Voice gathered from an eyewitness account that a traffic police officer at the junction impounded a tricycle for violating traffic light code.
The driver of the tricycle pleaded with the traffic warder to pardon his offence but he was adamant and the pleas fell on deaf ears.
According to the eyewitness, the tricycle driver left with no other choice had to call the owner of the tricycle who is incidentally a soldier.
Minutes after the call, the Nigerian Soldier landed at the scene with another tricycle and was asking after the traffic warder who impounded his tricycle.
His presence resulted to an altercation between him and the policemen on ground, and fight ensued between them.
Our source said that the clash drew the attention of soldiers deployed to the International Conference Centre, ICC Abakaliki, for a different mission, and they joined the free for all.
But after sometime, it was gathered that the matter was moved to ICC, for settlement and suddenly, a Hilux loaded with Mobile Policemen and Operatives of Anti Robbery Squad arrived the scene and charged at the Soldiers.
Two soldiers at the scene stepped aside from their colleagues and cocked their riffles, demanding that the mobile policemen should not move further or they would open fire on them.
The policemen according to source also took their positions at strategic places waiting for any move so that the would fire back.
But fortunately, the leader of the armed policemen in his wisdom avoid a serious bloodshed by telling his men to lower their riffles, even when some of them hesitated doing so, he commanded the second in command to take them back to the headquarters.
While the soldiers had already called for reinforcement from their base, which arrived just few minutes later.
On seeing that the policemen had stepped back, the soldiers lowered their own riffles and they all tried settling the matter without bloodshed.
When contacted, the police spokesperson, DSP Loveth Odah said it was a minor misunderstanding between the soldiers and the policemen.
She said they moved to the headquarters thereafter and resolved the matter amicably.
