David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
Operatives of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and private security operatives attached to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branch in Awka, Anambra State, clashed at Weather Head Estate in Awka at the weekend causing pandemonium.
Sources said the private security operatives led by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of CBN in Awka confronted men of the NSCDC, who were in the estate on legitimate duty to rescue a missing child.
THISDAY gathered that the operatives of the NSCDC were at the estate after a petition to them over a four-year-old child who was taken from her nursery school in Awka, without the permission of her guardian.
The source said the parents of the child were estranged, with the baby left in the care of the father, fuelling suspicion that the mother of the child may have orchestrated her removal from the school.
The child was tracked by the NSCDC operatives to a building in the estate and were about to rescue her when a man said to have identified himself as the Chief Security Officer of CBN in Awka arrived in a sky-blue Lexus RX 330 SUV obstructed the NSCDC operatives, while whisking away the child.
Our source said, “The incident happened in my estate and generated a huge tension as both sides of the security men challenged each other with guns corked.
“Many people in the residential estate took to their heels, hiding far away from the incident to avoid being caught up in a shootout.”
When THISDAY reached out to the Head of Media and Tactical Operations in Anambra State Command of NSCDC, SC Okadigbo Edwin, for reaction his phone line was not reachable.
Meanwhile, the Anambra State Command of NSCDC has written to the Awka branch of CBN over the conduct of the CSO, while calling for investigation into the matter, insisting that their operatives were on legitimate duty.