Law and order broke loose at the eve of the sit-at-home protest ordered by the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) as a soldier and his naval colleague were seriously injured in a fight with policemen at Ohanku road area of Aba, Abia state.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that the trouble started when a team of policemen from the Ndiegoro Division stormed the area to effect the arrest of some people who were alleged to have beaten a pregnant woman to stupor.
A resident of the area who spoke on the condition of anonymity hinted that the policemen were at the verge of taking the arrested people to the police station when an army private whose name was given as Chimezie said to be serving in an unnamed Army unit in Bauchi state but came to Aba to see his relations and a Naval rating identified as Aziz who serves at Owerri-Nta, stopped the police team and insisted they must not take the suspects to police station because they knew them.
According to an eyewitness account, the policemen were said to have informed the two military men that it was their Divisional Police Officer who directed them to arrest the suspects and that it would good if they could come to the station and speak with him, but the soldier and his naval colleague refused and threatened that the suspects must be released to them or they would not go anywhere.
It was in the process of trying to affect the release of the suspects that a fight ensued and one of the suspects was said to have taken to his heels.
Pointblanknews.com further gathered that the policemen enraged by the attitude of the soldier and his naval friend overpowered the latter and took them to the police station.
When soldiers in one of the Army units in the commercial city got information about the incident,they stormed the Ndiegoro police Division in an APC and two hilux vans in revenge mission to rescue their men but for the presence of the DPO simply addressed as Mr. Mamah took control of the situation, a shootout between the two warring parties was not far-fetched.
Pointblanknews.com learnt that the Aba Area Commander of the Nigerian Police, Rabiu Dayi was said to have invited the warring parties for a peace parley where he promised to take care of the medical expenses of the injured soldier and naval rating.
He advised the two parties to work together in peace as they are both working for the protection of lives and property in the city.
Pointblanknews.com checks revealed that there have been clashes between soldiers and policemen in the city owing to alleged involvement of the former in the handling of civil matters.