The Police have said miscreants fired at a convoy of soldiers in Kogi State last Sunday and not Boko Haram members as widely reported.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the miscreants had fired into the air in a bid to force the buses to stop and rob the passengers, not knowing that the occupants were soldiers.
The Police said the soldiers responded with gunshots which forced the suspected robbers to run into the bush.
He explained that on hearing about the incident, policemen from Kogi State Command swiftly mobilised to the spot and recovered two empty cartridges of locally-made pistol.
It said,” The true position of the whole scenario was that on Sunday night, about 2030hrs (8.30pm), a group of soldiers, travelling through Kogi State, in private luxurious buses, encountered a group of local miscreants, who fired into the air so that the buses would be forced to stop, in an attempt to possibly rob them, not knowing that the occupants of the buses were soldiers.
“The soldiers immediately responded by returning fire and the hoodlums took to their heels and ran into the bush. Information on the firing got to the police, who quickly mobilised to the scene and carried out intensive combing of the bush, where the hoodlums, fled into.
“All efforts to trace and arrest the fleeing hoodlums, proved abortive, but are continuing. However, two empty cartridges of locally made pistol, were recovered from the scene. ?For absolute clarity, Boko Haram members did not ambush any group of 850 soldiers, on Sunday, September 14, 2014.”
