Nigerian Air Force in a statement some hours ago says that the suspected criminal gang of soldiers that ambushed men of the Nigeria Police Force with apparent intention to free a suspect arrested by the police operatives on Tuesday around Jeddo area in Okpe local government area of Delta state are currently on trial  or undergoing military disciplinary action.

NAF in the statement confirmed that the attacked policemen sustained injuries but said they have been given medical attention.

Adding that the Unit commander of the Air Force Base has been in touch with police authorities in the state to resolve the matter with a view to enhance interagency relations in the state and avert re-occurrence of such incident.

“The attention of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has been drawn to a video circulating on social and other media, depicting an altercation between some NAF personnel and police officers in Warri, Delta State, on Tuesday, 11 February 2025.

“The NAF wishes to state that the incident has been decisively addressed.

“The Commander of the concerned NAF unit has engaged with the relevant Police authorities in Delta State, to resolve the matter with a view to enhancing inter-agency understanding.

Moreover, the injured Police officers have received the necessary medical attention, while the NAF personnel involved are currently undergoing disciplinary procedures in accordance with military regulations.

“As a professional and disciplined force, the NAF remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct and fostering harmonious relationships with sister agencies in the collective pursuit of national security and public safety.

Accordingly, appropriate measures are being taken to prevent any recurrence of such incidents as recently witnessed in Warri, whilst the continued support and understanding of the public is highly appreciated.”

Amas Nosa while replying via the comment section of the Nigerian Air Force Facebook post, said; “So what should I do with this thing in the name of apology? Tell us what prompted the show of shame in the first place before telling us the action you have taken or not taken.

What if the police decided to use the gun and in the process shot innocent people, who na for say na accidental discharge abi? yeye dey smell”.

Lukman Yahaya said: “This is so bad, shameful and unprofessional, how will they rescue the suspect by force, is that how they were trained?”.

Bamidele Emmanuel Abayomi said: “This is shameful from both forces, I thought you all are supposed to work together in order to defend the country against all external forces.

Aside from the disciplinary actions, the forces should come together and educate their men on the synergy they ought to create between themselves in order to extract danger.

Besides, the Nigeria Air Force is known for her dignity and that shouldn’t be allowed to get stained”.

Emeka Onyegbaduo said: “It has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future. We don’t seek permanent solutions to our issues and that is the bane of our country”.

In what looks like a related matter, Frank Maobuye said: “In this country it is very difficult to hear or see the Army disrespect the Navy or Air Force personnel and vice versa! But police will think they are above other military personnel and refuse to respect them.

While traveling, when you get to the military check point and a personnel (Army, Navy or Air Force) is seating in front and tells the officers he is a personnel and stating the force he belongs they will just let him and other passengers go without stress.

But the police, they will request your ID card, Force number, how many years you have spent in the military.

During Covid-19 I saw things with my eyes and understood that police have no regard for other military personnel and until police learn to respect other military personnel this problem will not stop!”

Pender Matthew Aghogho in a point of observation stated that; “Thank you Nigerian Air Force Headquarters for your response.

But please note this correction: the incident happened in Jeddo in Wado City, not in Warri. You may wish to note that the Okpe Urhobo people of Delta State who share boundaries with Warri have been subjected to marginalization for years because their territories were being subsumed by the name Warri.

Warri is a small enclave belonging to the Itsekiri ethnic nationality while Jeddo, Ekpan, Effurun, Osubi where we have the Osubi Airport (nothing like Warri Airport because there is no airport in Warri), and so many other locations being erroneously referred to as Warri, are not in Warri.

In fact, Jeddo is in Okpe Local government area and the fact that it is near Warri can never make it Warri. This time around, the Okpe Urhobo people have decided to advocate against continuously calling their territories Warri.

So, NAF please correct your flyer by changing the word Warri to Jeddo in Wado City. We know you were not aware of this issues before….but now you know, so please do the correction”, said on behalf of  Wado City Aproko and Wado City Advocacy Movement”.

We had reported that the Nigerian Air Force, NAF under the leadership of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar has kept mum since on Tuesday or refused to be accountable to the public over apparent act of aiding and abetting criminality after its soldiers were seen in now viral video to have laid ambush at the Air Force Military checkpoint in front of Air Force Base where the suspected criminal gang of soldiers have higher numerical strength at Jeddo in Okpe local government area of Delta State and attacked men of the Nigeria Police Force Quick Response Squad of the Delta State command, allegedly demanded the suspected criminal in the police vehicle  to be set free, and resistance from the police operatives led to an act of apparent criminal intimidation as the soldiers manhandled the police operatives, attempted to forcefully abduct the police operatives with their service riffles in their hands into the Air Force Base as seen in a video footage recorded by one of the eyewitnesses.