Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and private security personnel attached to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branch in Awka, Anambra State, clashed at Weather Head Estate in Awka at the weekend, causing pandemonium.

Sources said the private security operatives, led by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the CBN in Awka, confronted NSCDC personnel who were in the estate on what was described as a legitimate operation to rescue a missing child.

THISDAY gathered that the NSCDC operatives were acting on a petition over a four-year-old child allegedly taken from her nursery school in Awka without the permission of her guardian.

A source said the child’s parents were estranged, with the child left in the custody of the father, fuelling suspicion that the mother may have orchestrated her removal from the school.

The child was reportedly tracked by NSCDC operatives to a building within the estate, and they were about to rescue her when a man said to have identified himself as the Chief Security Officer of the CBN in Awka arrived in a sky-blue Lexus RX 330 SUV and allegedly obstructed the operatives while whisking the child away.

The source said: “The incident happened in my estate and generated huge tension as both sides of the security personnel challenged each other, with guns cocked.

“Many people in the residential estate took to their heels, hiding far away from the incident to avoid being caught up in a shootout.”

When contacted for reaction, the Head of Media and Tactical Operations of the NSCDC in Anambra State, SC Okadigbo Edwin, could not be reached as his phone line was unavailable.

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Command of the NSCDC has written to the Awka branch of the CBN over the conduct of the CSO, while calling for an investigation into the matter and insisting that its operatives were on legitimate duty.

David-Chyddy Eleke