Policemen go berserk shoot doctor, destroy hospital buildings

MAIDUGURI — A group of aggrieved policemen who were assigned to convey the corpses of their colleagues killed by suspected terrorists in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, yesterday, shot a medical doctor in the leg and fired several gunshots to scare medical staff,  destroying some buildings at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, UMTH, when they realised that the mortuary was filled to capacity and there was nowhere to deposit the remains of their colleagues. Vanguard gathered that the incident happened at about 10 a.m. when the policemen who went to the hospital discovered that the remains of the officers and men that were taken to the hospital since Wednesday were yet to be deposited at the morgue due to lack of space.
An eyewitness who did not want his name mentioned said: “The policemen came to the hospital and started shooting sporadically when they discovered that there was no place to deposit the remains of their slain officers and men, as the morgue was fully occupied. I believe the medical staff who was shot was as a result of stray bullets, and not targeted at him as insinuated.”
A staff at the UMTH who was not authorised to speak to press said: “I was attending to a patient, when I heard the sound of gunshots and immediately I saw people running and I had no option than to run too.
“Although, I cannot tell whether a medical staff was shot or injured, the whole institution was shut down for over two hours before normalcy returned.”
Efforts to speak with the Police Commissioner, Mr Yuguda Abdullahi and his Public Relations Officer, Mr Gideon Jubrin proved abortive, but a top security officer who did not want his name in print confirmed the incident to newsmen.
He said: “Yes, there was a rampage at the UMTH. The Chief Medical Director,  Professor Tahir Othman, called me over the development, but as I am talking to you, the situation is under control as normalcy has returned and the people are going about their normal businesses.”
Meantime,  the Resident Medical Doctors of UMTH have embarked on an indefinite strike following the shooting of their colleague by policemen.
Chairman of Resident Doctors of the institution, Dr. Mohammed Yahaya said; “Our union has from today embarked on an indefinite strike following the attack on one of of our colleagues and others by policemen.”