Gate of army barracks in Okitipupa
Residents of Okitipupa in Ondo State were yesterday sacked from their homes by desperate military men on a weird search for a gun lost by one of their colleagues.
The soldiers, from a barracks near the town, blocked the highway early in the morning, harassing commuters and conducting a thorough search of vehicles. They also ransacked residential places near the Okitipupa garage.
Their erring colleague was said to have binged heavily on alcohol on Thursday evening in the midst of some touts, during which his colleagues on the rampage on residents and commuters said he was ‘dispossessed’ of the gun.
Relating the abusive acts of the soldiers today, a witness told our correspondent that the military men queued up innocent old men, women and youths at the Okitipupa garage. They were ordered like common criminals to raise their hands above their heads and marched to the barracks. It is not known what treatment the 'arrested' people were further given at the barracks.
"It's just odd that the soldiers think the old men and women who don't drink are the ones to be harassed and arrested over what they are completely innocent of," one witness commented.
No information has emerged yet whether the military plans to, or has imposed any disciplinary action on their erring officer for drinking so excessively in public as to lose it.
"What irritates more is that the soldiers would believe at all, that the touts who made away with the gun would be foolish to hang around with the weapon they just possessed in the same area. They are only assaulting innocent people here and it's odd," one resident remarked.
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