By NATHAN NWAKAMMA

Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Policemen at the Ekeki Police Division on Thursday clashed over attempts to arrest a suspected drug dealer.

The clash caused panic and pandemonium at the Ekeki Police Division in Yenagoa as the confrontation ensued between the Police and the NDLEA.

It was learnt that some NDLEA operatives were in the area to arrest a woman suspected to be a drug peddler and had even made entry in the police records before carrying out their assignment.

A resident at Ekeki told a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Correspondent that as the NDLEA squad were carrying out their operation, the policemen from the Ekeki Police Division obstructed the NDLEA operatives and it resulted to an altercation.

In the resulting confrontation, several gunshots were fired which scared residents.

NAN sighted two operating vehicles of the NDLEA with deflated tyres by gunshots in the process by the police to prevent the NDLEA operatives from taking the suspect away.

When contacted, NDLEA spokesman, Mr Howells Obah, said that the operatives of the agency complied with standard operational procedure in carrying out the raid on the suspected drug dealer.

?Our men went for operation behind Ekeki Police Division. Our man made an entry in the police station as required but we learnt the suspect is a wife of a Policeman and enjoyed protection.

?They shot two of our vehicles and we are trying to see how we can take them out, and we are making efforts to keep the situation from escalating further,? Obah said.

DSP Musa Mohammed, the Bayelsa Police command Public Relations Officer confirmed the incident and said he was hurrying to the scene to find out what happened.

?I am going there now to find out what happened,? Mohammed said by phone. (NAN)

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