Taskforce Officials Clash With Soldiers In Port Harcourt Over Food

There was chaos on Thursday at the Ikoku junction in Port Harcourt after some men of the state taskforce engaged a military man in a brawl.

The trouble reportedly started after the taskforce men kicked off a cooler of food belonging to a food vendor from which the army man is buying food.

The incident, Ezenwoko’s Blog learnt has led to destruction of businesses and injuries on some roads side traders who were caught up in clash.

Angered by the taskforce officials’ actions, the military personnel reportedly fired a gun in the air.

While the issue was about to die down, the taskforce officials reportedly mobilized over ten Hilux trucks loaded with heavily armed men and stormed the area.

They reportedly began to shoot sporadically to scare traders who almost became violent.

When interrogated, the food vendor who was attending to the soldier at the Ikoku flyover, said: “I was attending to a military officer attached to the company handling the flyover when suddenly men of the taskforce arrived and started destroying my goods and this is the only thing I use in feeding my family. I don’t know what their anger is”.

Other traders at the junction also testified to the attitude of members of the taskforce. They accused the security officers attached to the taskforce of being responsible for the crisis and asked Governor Nyesom Wike to call them to order.

“You can see the police are ordering them to stone bottle. What is the work of the police, to settle the issue but the police are the one telling them to stone bottles,” one of the traders noted.

No comment, however, has been made by the management of the taskforce at the time this report was been given.