Wadume Panel Report Indicts Army Officer, DCO, Three Others

The board of inquiry set up by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the killing of three police operatives of IRT by soldiers in Taraba State and release of kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala alias Wadume, has said that the Army Captain, Tijani Balarabe, who ordered the shooting of the bus conveying the suspected kidnapper, did so because there was a false alarm stating that kidnappers have abducted Wadume in a white Hummer bus.
The board also said there was a need for the said Army Captain, some soldiers of 93 Battalion, the Divisional Crime Officer of Wukari Police Station and some policemen to be further investigated over alleged complicity in the unfortunate incident.
The board recommended clear sanctions for five personnel of the Nigerian Army and the Wukari Police Division over the killing of three policemen and one civilian in Ibi, Taraba State, on August 6.
The board identified the officers to face disciplinary sanctions to include; Captain Tijani Balarabe, Sergeant Ibrahim Mohammed, Corporal Bartholomew Obanye of the Ibi Police Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police Aondoona Iorbee, and Inspector Aliyu Dadje.
The board said the officers must be taken through “necessary disciplinary measures.”
It was also recommended that further investigation be conducted on Hamisu Bala, the Taraba kidnap kingpin, for gunrunning.
This is contained in a statement titled ‘Report of Board of Inquiry to Investigate the Circumstances Surrounding the Killing of Three Nigeria Police Personnel and Two Civilians by Troops of Nigerian Army in Taraba State’ signed by the Acting Director, Defence Information, Col Onyema Nwachukwu.
The statement reads, “Following the directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, for an immediate investigation into the unfortunate incident that led to the killing of three Nigerian Police Force (NPF) personnel and two civilians by troops of the Nigerian Army (NA) along Ibi-Wukari Road in Taraba State, the Chief of Defence Staff General, General Abayomi Olonisakin constituted a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to investigate the incident.