BY WILLIAM ATTAH, GOMBE – Following the shooting of a Tanker driver by a policeman as a result of disagreement in Gombe, the State Government has quickly intervened to forestall breakdown of law just as the policeman involved was disarmed and arrested. Already, the Police Command in Gombe has commenced investigation into the cause of the incident.
The State Commissioner for Information, Julius Ishaya Lepes and his counterpart from the Ministry of Internal Security and Ethical Orientation, Adamu Kupto Dishi, who stood in for the State government therefore called for calm, assuring that the matter would be addressed. Lepes told journalists at a press conference in Gombe on Monday afternoon that the shooting took place during a disagreement when the tanker driver (Abdullahi Bello) refused the Policeman’s command to come down from his vehicle at a checkpoint at Hashidu junction on Monday morning.
He said that after the shooting, other tanker drivers immediately mobilized their tankers and blocked the road for several hours in solidarity with their colleague which caused commotion on the busy road linking Gombe and Bauchi through Darazo and to other Northwestern States.
The Commissioner said that the victim was rushed to a hospital in Gombe town where he is said to be stable and responding to treatment and therefore called on members of the public, especially road users on that route to go about with their normal businesses as normalcy has been restored in the area.
He said that the Government has also reached out to the members of the tanker drivers association to calm their nerves against taking the laws into their hands.
When contacted, the Gombe State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ishola Babaitan, confirmed the incident and assured that the Police Inspector involved (Urbanus Ishaku) has been arrested while investigation has already commenced.
Babitan assured that any reckless Policeman that violates the norms of the Police Force will be dealt with according to the laws of the land, saying; “He will not go free, no matter who he is,” he said.
