A clash between soldiers and mobile policemen attached to Bayelsa State Vigilante Service (BSVS) in Yenagoa has left two civilians dead.
The two civilians were passers-by when the clash took place at the popular Tombia-Etegwe Roundabout in the state capital on Tuesday.
THE NATION gathered that the two victims, Miss Tarilayefa Ariweriyai (29) and Otunu Omanepemo (39) sustained severe injuries from gunshots fired by one of the soldiers allegedly attached to an oil servicing company in the State.
Eyewitnesses said a soldier in mufti allegedly drove a van against traffic and was challenged by some members of the BSVS.
They alleged that in the process of arguing over the soldier’s offence, a mobile policeman attached to the vigilance group reportedly slapped him twice for challenging them in spite of the fact that he committed a traffic offence.
It was gathered that it was after the slaps the alleged traffic offender introduced himself as a soldier and threatened to deal with the vigilante members and policemen at the scene.
A trader at the roundabout, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained when they discovered that the man was a soldier, they pleaded with him to let go of the matter.
The trader said the soldier pretended to have accepted the apology and drove off only to resurface a few minutes later with two of his fully armed colleagues.
The eyewitness said: “The soldier came back later in uniform and with two armed colleagues. They swooped on the policemen and started hitting them with the butts of their rifles.
“The fighting continued until one of the mobile policemen successfully disarmed one of the soldiers. It was at that point the other soldiers started shooting indiscriminately.
