Troops in Maiduguri, Borno State,
‘mistakenly’ opened fire on the convoy of Governor Kashim Shettima as
it approached a military garrison near the airport.
Shettima was on his way to visit
soldiers, who were wounded in the simultenous Boko Haram attacks on
Maiduguri, Monguno and Kodunga when the incident occurred on Monday.
Security sources, according to SaharaReporters,
said the governor’s protocol unit was to blame for the incident as
it failed to notify the military authorities about Shettima’s
intention to visit the military facility on Monday evening.
An aide to the governor was quoted by
the online news portal as having said that the governor, who was
unharmed in the encounter, returned to his office unruffled.
The report however did not say if anyone
in the convoy was hurt. It also was silent on whether or not Shettima’s
security aides returned fired.
A Government House source however claimed
that the governor’s convoy heard sporadic gunshots about one kilometre
from the 33 Battalion and therefore made a U-turn.
He added that Shettima stopped his convoy
at the 707 Housing Estate to calm tensions and debunk the rumours that
the gunshots were by Boko Haram insurgents that were attacking people
at Njimtilo.
Our correspondents could not get the
spokesman for the 7th Div., Col S.K. Usman, to comment on the issue as
calls to his mobile did not connect.
Attempts to also get the reaction of the
Director of Press and Communication to the governor, Mallam Isa Gusau,
were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
Calls to his mobile indicated that it was either switched off or out of coverage area.
But the state Commissioner for Infromation, Mohammed Bulama, said what happened was a “friendly gunshot.”
“It was not an attack on the governor. It
was a friendly gunshot that was not directed at Gov. Shettima nor his
convoy. The shots were fired into the air by soldiers who were hailing
the governor for saluting their effort in repelling the insurgents.”
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