Six officers of the Nigerian Army allegedly killed one Haliru Liman, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, North West Nigeria, authorities have confirmed to HumAngle. 

The senior police officer was travelling to Kebbi from Zamfara when the incident happened around the Zugu town in the Bukuyum axis. Residents and commuters who witnessed the attack told HumAngle that the soldiers rode on three motorcycles to intercept Halilu who was travelling alongside his family.

Sources said the soldiers were angry when the police officer refused to stop at their military checkpoint around the Danmarke village in the Bukkuyum area. They trailed him to Zugu town and halted his movement, leading to a physical altercation between them and later causing the officer’s death.

“The soldiers forced the Police boss to reverse to their checkpoint, accusing him of attempting to jump military checks around the Danmarke village,” Salisu Murhu, the local chairman for the  Community Protection Guard in Zugu town, told HumAngle.

“We saw the DPO driving his car; on reaching Bakin Kasuwa, we realised that the soldiers were following him. When both reached there they asked the policeman to stop and he did. So the soldiers further asked the DPO to come out of the car but his wife and children said no,” he added. 

Amid the argument with army officers, Haliru identified himself as a police officer, but the soldiers dragged him out of the car, asking him to return to the military checkpoint. Lukman Aliyu, a commuter and eyewitness said he saw how one of the soldiers held the DPO’s neck, battering him.

“He then showed them his police ID Card but became helpless and therefore decided to press his turtle to run away,”  Lukuman recounted. “As the dragging went sour, the Police Officer begged to be recognised as a security agent himself, but the angry soldiers declined after which two gunshots hit him right inside his car, killing him immediately.”

Lukman’s account correlates with what other sources told HumAngle, with one wondering why the refusal to stop at the checkpoint could have been a reason to murder the officer. “Since they were able to stop him, they ought to have arrested him,” one local said, asking not to be named for security reasons. “This is sad because these people are supposed to work together to fight insecurity.”

HumAngle had reported a similar case of soldiers working around the Danmarke, documenting the power abuse by the officers.

Modibbo Usman, the DPO of the Bukuyyum Police Station, conveyed the deceased policeman to the Gummi General Hospital and confirmed the incident to HumAngle. When we contacted  Nafiu Abubakar, the police spokesperson in Kebbi state for comment on this incident, he asked that we contact the Zamfara police authorities. 

Confirming the incident, Yazid Abubakar, the Zamfara Police spokesman said, “We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the senseless killing of the superintendent of Police Halliru Liman, the Divisional Police Officer of Wasagu Division, Kebbi State Police Command. SP Liman was brutally murdered by military personnel led by one Hassan, attached to OPHD Sector 6, Dan Marke area of Bukkuyum.”

“The circumstances surrounding this heinous crime are alarming and unacceptable. SP Liman, who was on his way to attend a monthly conference in Birnin Kebbi, was stopped by military personnel despite identifying himself as a police officer. In a shocking display of aggression, Hassan pointed his gun at SP Liman and shot him in the head, resulting in his instant death,” Yazid added in a press statement.