MILITARY/POLICE CONFRONTATION IN ABUJA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001394 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2015 TAGS: ASEC PGOV MOPS NI SUBJECT: MILITARY/POLICE CONFRONTATION IN ABUJA ¶1. (U) Classified by Charge d'Affaires a.i. Rick Roberts for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). ¶2. (SBU) In the early evening August 14 Air Force and Air Force and police personnel had a brief shootout in the Asokoro district of Abuja. Military and police sources tell us plainclothes Air Force security personnel were stopped by a police officer running a traffic light. An argument ensued and the heated words soon become fists. Our sources disagree on whether the rest of the action occurred at that site or moved to the Asokoro police headquarters a short distance away, but either way soon additional Air Force and police personnel arrived to assist their comrades. The police used tear gas and there was a brief exchange of gunfire. Abuja Police Commissioner Lawrence Alobe and a senior Nigerian Air Force officer arrived and ended the melee. Despite the gunfire, there have been no reports of deaths or serious injury. No AMCITS were involved. ¶3. (C) Comment: Low-level violence between police and military is fairly common in Nigeria, and the incident did not even make it into the local media. ROBERTS