Several police officers providing security during the Anambra State governorship election were reportedly shot by Nigerian Army personnel at a checkpoint in Onitsha while returning from the polls on Sunday.

According to sources, a disagreement between the soldiers and policemen escalated at a checkpoint along Onisha Road, after which the army opened fire.

“Happening now on our way coming back from Anambra State election, we had a misunderstanding with Army personnel at a military checkpoint. Before we knew what was going on, they opened fire on us. One of us was shot directly on his chest, with many other policemen injured,” one officer told SaharaReporters.
“The issue has generated to riot as we are talking. We have as well called for backup.”

About 45,000 police personnel had been deployed for the November 8 election, which saw incumbent Charles Soludo of APGA win 422,664 votes, defeating APC candidate Nicholas Ukachukwu, who scored 99,445 votes.

Other candidates included Paul Chukwuma (YPP) with 37,753 votes and John Nwosu (ADC) with 8,208 votes.

The incident has raised concerns over coordination between the Army and Police during election deployments and the safety of security personnel.