Date: 2017-03-09

There was tension at Computer Village, Challenge area in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday as men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps shot sporadically into the air in an attempt to arrest a mobile phone repairer.

The incident, which occurred around 5pm saw passersby and motorists scampering for safety. It took the intervention of men of the Kwara State Police Command to calm nerves.

A source who spoke with this medium on condition of anonymity said, "A Civil Defence officer came to computer village to repair his phone. He met an engineer who told him that his phone needed to be flashed and the entire document would be formatted.

"The officer agreed and the phone engineer formatted the phone before returning it to him.

"Surprisingly, the officer came back claiming that all his documents had been removed. An argument ensued between them and the officer brutalised the phone engineer, insisting he would take him to their command at Post Office."

The eye witness said it was while the officer was about taking the engineer away that his colleagues reached out to policemen at 'A' Division to come to their rescue. The police subsequently moved in and rescued the phone repairer but the NSCDC official returned with his colleagues in three patrol vans.

"On their return, the Civil Defence officers attacked the phone repairers insisting on the arrest of the engineer but his colleagues resisted. "It was at that point that the NSCDC resorted to sporadic shooting to scare the phone engineers." Men of the Special Anti- Robbery Squad were later drafted to arrest the situation.

A police source informed our reporter that the Chairman of Computer Village was later quizzed by officers of the NSCDC at their headquarters.

When contacted on the development, NSCDC Commandant in the state, Pedro Awili told our reporter that the "situation had been brought under control and everything is in order."

He however debunked the claim that anyone was in custody, of his men in connection with the incident.

"The chairman is not in our custody I learnt that he was rescued by one of the police officers but we are going to invite him for some questioning."

All efforts to contact the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ajayi Okasanmi proved abortive as calls put to his phone were not responded to and text messages sent to him were not replied as at the time time filing this report.