A policeman attached to the Bayelsea State Police Command was on Christmas Day shot dead by a colleague as their police patrol vehicle came under fire from suspected cultists.
According to Premium Times, the suspected cultists had been feasting in the Obele area of Ovom in Yenagoa when the festivities degenerated into a supremacy battle between rival cult groups.
A police patrol vehicle was said to have got wind of the fracas and moved in to quell it.
The patrol vehicle was said to have come under fire from the cultists and one of the policemen mistakenly shot his colleague dead while trying to return fire.
The Bayelsea State Police PRO, Asinim Butswat confirmed the incident.
The police spokesman said, “Yes, the incident was between cultists but as the police went to find out what was going on, the cultists started shooting and one of the police mistakenly shot an officer.
“Though, we are yet to get the full detail because some of our men, who were at the scene, are supposed to brief us over the matter.
“Nevertheless, the Police is intensifying efforts to ensure a crime free environment for the people in Bayelsa; in this period of Christmas celebration, we deployed over 4,000 personnel for patrol.
“We adopted some strategies like ‘Cordon and Search’; I must tell you, our men and women are fully on operations to safeguard lives and property.”
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