Police, air force operatives exchange blows over arrest of drug suspect

The police have confirmed that their operatives and that of the Nigeria Air Force publicly fought along a highway in Delta State, south-south Nigeria, over the arrest of a drug suspect.

Bright Edafe, the police spokesperson in the state, confirmed this in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, calling it a “disgraceful incident”.

He was reacting to a video of the incident posted on the microblogging platform.

It is unclear when the incident happened.

“The Policemen attached to QRS were on their way with a suspect found in possession of substances suspected to be codeine, Indian Hemp, (and) Canadian loud. But the personnel of the air force who happens to know the suspect intercepted and insisted that the policemen must release them before proceeding; hence, they attacked the policemen unprovoked,” Mr Edafe, a superintendent of police, said in his post on X.

He said the conflict between the two security organisations was being attended to and added that there is a cordial relationship between the Nigeria Airforce in Delta State and the Police Command in the state under the leadership of Commissioner of Police Olufemi Abaniwonda.

“The airforce authorities are looking into this incident and setting up modalities to ensure that this shameful incident does not repeat itself,” Mr Edafe said.

The video, apparently done by an amateur, captured the armed security operatives throwing punches at one another along the road while people stood by to watch.

Two years ago, in March 2023, PREMIUM TIMES reported how some 15 naval ratings invaded a police facility in Delta State and assaulted a police officer who had an altercation the previous day with one of the ratings.