The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has appealed to Nigerians to refrain from comments and actions that could pit the police against the army.
The appeal followed public criticism of the killing of three undercover policemen and a civilian last week by soldiers on the Ibi-Wukari Road in Taraba State.
Acting spokesman for the DHQ, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, reminded Nigerians that the police and the army are two very important services in the country.
He said it would be very unfair to the nation to pit them against each other, adding that concern should be geared at ensuring the joint panel constituted undertakes an exhaustive investigation.
According to Nwachukwu, the panel headed by Rear Admiral Ibikunle Olaiya, has representatives of the Police, Army, Navy, Air Force and Department of State Services (DSS) with a clear mandate to unravel the unfortunate incident.
He spoke on the phone.
Asked about the captain alleged to have been responsible for the unauthorised shootings and release of the suspected kidnapper, Nwachukwu said he was not aware of the source of the information as it never came from him.
He said: “That information did not come from me. Our concern is to allow the panel do a thorough job and avoid comments that heat up the situation. We are trying to apply some restraint on this issue to avoid pitching the police against the army.
“These are two very important institutions in Nigeria and it will be most unfair to this nation to pit them against each other or the personnel of each service against the other.
“What is important is that lives have been lost and this is a difficult time for the families of the victims. We should be more concerned at looking into the human angles, the psychological traumas these families are going through.
“Our concern should be that the panel does exhaustive investigation and gets to the bottom of the matter. So, I would not like to begin to make comments that would pre-empt the investigation or its outcome.”
