Four months after three policemen and two civilians were gunned down by soldiers in Taraba State, the military authorities are yet to court martial the suspects.
The policemen were killed at a military checkpoint while conveying kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala, popularly known as Wadume, who they had arrested in his hideout in Ibi town of the state.
Sources told Daily Trust that the suspected soldiers, who also wounded five other police officers, have not been tried by the military even as the delay is heightening concern among family members of the victims and suspicion among colleagues of the deceased in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Inspector Mark Ediale, Sergeants Usman DanAzumi and Dahiru Musa, and two civilians working with the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the NPF, were killed by the soldiers along Ibi-Jalingo road in Taraba State, on Tuesday, August 6, 2019.
The police officers were gunned down after they had succeeded in arresting Wadume, an alleged kidnap kingpin who was on their wanted persons’ list for months. He was reportedly rescued after the soldiers had gunned down the cops.
In a confession statement after he was rearrested in Kano, Wadume had told his interrogators in Abuja that: “The police came to arrest me. When they arrested me, the army chased after them and opened fire. From there, they (soldiers) took me to their headquarters and cut off my handcuffs and released me. I went back to my house, but the police came to re-arrest me.”
Wadume was reportedly rescued by troops attached to 93 Battalion, Takum, led by one Captain Tijjani Balarabe.
Where the case stands
A security source told one of our correspondents that the suspected soldiers, who killed the policemen, have not been tried in a military court.
“The new thing about the Wadume saga is that the soldiers have not been court martialled till date. We were told that they are still in detention but this is doubtful. What I am sure is that they have not been court martialled,” he said.
Daily Trust recalls that the Board of Inquiry (BOI) constituted to probe the matter had on October 8, released its report and recommended that the army and police should further investigate Captain Tijjani Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim Mohammed, Corporal Bartholomew Obanye, DCO Ibi Police Division, ASP Aondoona Iorbee, and Insp. Aliyu Dadje for complacency.
The Joint Investigative Panel set up by the Defence Headquarters was headed by Rear Admiral I.T. Olaiya.
The BOI, in a statement by acting Director of Defence Information, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, also recommended that further investigation be conducted on Wadume for gunrunning and kidnapping.
It was, however, gathered that no further trial had been carried out in line with the recommendation of the probe panel.
When contacted yesterday, both police and military authorities declined to comment.
One of our correspondents gathered that some of the suspected soldiers are already moving freely, heightening suspicion that they might not be tried for extra-judicial killing or any other crime.
It was gathered that though Captain Balarabe has not gone back to his station in Takum, he recently visited his family in Jos, Plateau State, an indication that he is no longer in detention.
“The fact that he even visited (Jos) gave most people confidence that he is innocent as far as the military is concerned. This is because, if they have any suspicion on the role he played in releasing Wadume, he wouldn’t have been allowed to be moving freely,” the source said.
However, a military source told our correspondent that the fact that the captain was allowed to visit his family was inconsequential to the on-going investigation.
He said if at all Captain Balarabe is to be court-martialled, there is the possibility that it would take place in Jos at the 3 Armoured Division, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment, under which the 93 Battalion of Taraba State falls.
The source also explained that with the exception of coups and other high profile cases, the military rarely rushed in conducting court-martials. “The Nigerian Army sometimes piles as many cases as can be handled to be taken all at once to manage resources,” he said.
Though they are two different cases, the court martial of the killer soldiers is being delayed when compared to the trial of the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Sokoto, Hakeem Otiki, a major general over alleged theft of N400 million by some soldiers under his command.
Daily Trust recalls that it took the Nigerian Army only two months to commence the court martial of the general following the July 14, 2019 incident in which five soldiers carted away a consignment containing N400 million while on an escort duty from Sokoto to Kaduna states at the instance of General Otiki . The trial of the general commenced on September 17.
Wadume’s whereabouts
Daily Trust further gathered that Wadume’s wives and relatives visited him recently in Abuja. A source close to the family who preferred not be mentioned, said Wadume is receiving medical attention at the National Hospital, in Abuja, for gunshot injuries.
“His manhood was damaged by the gunshots he sustained during the altercation that ensued between the police operatives that arrested him and the soldiers that rescued him,” the source said.
The source stated further that Wadume was hit by a bullet at the checkpoint where the three policemen and the two civilians were killed by soldiers.
It was gathered that there was a rumour last month that Wadume will be released, prompting youths in Takum to start preparing for his return.
Daily Trust had earlier reported how the corpses of the victims were not released until after two months.
One of the colleagues of the slain cops had told Daily Trust that the delay in the trial of the suspects was “irritating.”
“Our hearts cannot stop bleeding as the killers of our departed colleagues have not been punished. It is unfortunate that the soldiers are in detention but no step has been taken to dismiss and hand them over to us for prosecution,” another police officer said, pleading not to be named.
