Unexpectedly, a furious shootout is reported to have broken out between Borno Police and Immigration officers on Friday in Maiduguri, the state capital.Zagazola Makama, a security analyst and counterinsurgency specialist, revealed this in a statement on X, citing the altercation involving varying calibers of weaponry that caused panic among the local populace.
According to Makama, the altercation happened at a police outpost within a housing estate next to the Maiduguri-Kano expressway.
According to him, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) took over this outpost in 2014 after it was abandoned because security officers were attacked repeatedly.
As part of a recent move to improve the city's security, Makama stated that Muhammad Yusuf, the commissioner of police for Borno State, gave divisional police officers the order to retake any abandoned police outposts.
Makama was informed by a policeman that the goal of the Bulunkutu Division police was to take back the outpost from the immigration officials.
However, when the NIS staff refused to grant them admission, their attempt resulted in a chaotic situation. The unexpected dawn incursion without any warning caught the immigration personnel off guard, Makama added.
Consequently, despite the outpost bearing the Nigerian police insignia, they made the decision to remain there.
"When both parties started firing their rifles into the air, the situation escalated and the residents of the 777 housing estate became panicked."
Many Estate residents, according to Makama, fled for their life after mistaking the altercation for a Boko Haram attack.
He claims that adjacent Nigerian Army soldiers from the 33 Artillery intervened and soothed the police and NIS officers, ultimately defusing the situation.
In addition, the Commissioner of Police sent a mediation team from the Crack Division, headed by CSP Mohammed Ibrahim, to resolve the dispute between the two parties.