The family feud that caused the killing of four persons by a mobile policeman in Tudun-Wada, Jos, penultimate Thursday, was caused by a petty quarrel over a GSM memory card.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that six persons were also injured in the feud that started as a petty disagreement over the whereabouts of the memory of a Chinese phone.
One of the injured persons, Mr Sunday Daniel, told NAN on his hospital bed on Tuesday that “it is amazing to me that the petty feud led to so much disaster''.?
Daniel said that his younger brother, Nengak, had invited the mobile policeman to intervene when the matter assumed some strange dimension.
He said that the policeman’s intervention turned tragic and led to the killing of four persons, while six others, including himself sustained gun shot injuries.
Five of those injured have been treated and discharged, but Daniel, who was shot at close range, is still recuperating at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos.
Daniel, who received two gun shots on the abdomen and the chest, told NAN he had wanted to charge his phone when he discovered that the memory card had been removed.
On enquiry, he was told that friends of a nephew had removed the memory card and had promised to return before the fateful day.
Nengak, who was not happy with the nephew, prevailed on Daniel to pressurise the nephew to produce the memory card as quickly as possible.
Daniels reluctance to put much pressure on the nephew, as suggested by Nengak, irked the younger fellow, who confronted him at a relaxation spot and accused him of laxity in the quest to recover the memory card.
He? said, “The manner Nengak confronted me infuriated some friends of mine, who accused him (Nengak) of insolence.
“But Nengak became angry with my friends and they engaged in a serious argument over the matter.
“When I tried to calm him down he slapped me and it was at that point that some of the youths around descended on him because they felt he had committed an abomination.''?
Daniel added that shortly after the fight with the youths around, Nengak left the recreation spot only to return 20 minutes later with a mobile policeman.
“On arrival, he pointed at me and the policeman without seeking to know what happened, attacked me and hit me with his hands and legs.
“I suspect that the policeman was drunk, because while he was beating me, he was staggering and at a point even fell on the ground,’’ Daniel said.
He said, however, that Nengak, who brought the policeman, got angry with the force man when the beating became severe.
“The last thing I heard was Nengak shouting at the policeman and telling that “I didn’t call you here to come and kill my brother'', I only woke up to find myself in the hospital,’’ the victim told NAN.
The Plateau Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Samuel Dabai, while confirming the incident, told NAN that the mobile police officer had been arrested.
“We discovered that the mobile policeman killed four persons and injured six others with his rifle when he went berserk.
“The command has identified the officer who carried out the shooting. He is under arrest as I am talking to you now while investigation has commenced,” Dabai said.
The police spokesman, who expressed dismay over the attitude of the mobile police officer, described the incident as very sad and unfortunate. (NAN)