A soldier with the Nigerian Army, on Tuesday. Had shot a 16-year-old #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protester dead in the Samaru community in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The teenage protester was identified as Ismail Mohammed.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyeama Nwachukwu. Has confirmed the development in a statement on Tuesday titled “Unfortunate death of a protester by a soldier in Zaria.”
Nwachukwu explained that the incident happened on Tuesday. And it was when troops of the Nigerian Army received a distress call to help disperse some hoodlums. Who had gathered in Samaru, burning tyres and attacking security personnel.
Nwachukwu added that the mob attempted to attack the troops, which led to a soldier firing a warning shot to scare the hoodlums away. So this has led to Mohammed’s death.
According to the Army spokesman, the soldier involved has been arrested and is undergoing interrogation.
The statement read, “On August 6, 2024, troops of the Nigerian Army received a distress call that some hoodlums gathered in Samaru in large numbers. That they are burning tyres on the road and throwing stones at security personnel.”
“The troops immediately mobilised and arrived at the scene to disperse the mob and enforce the curfew imposed by the state government.”
“On arrival at the scene, the hoodlums brazenly attempted to attack the troops. This prompted a soldier to fire a warning shot to scare the hoodlums away. Which unfortunately led to the death of a 16-year-old boy, Ismail Mohammed.”
“The soldier involved has since been arrested and is undergoing interrogation as of the time of this report.”
“Because of this unfortunate incident, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, has sent a high-powered delegation. This is led by the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Maj Gen Lander Saraso, to visit and condole with the family of the deceased.”
“So, the deceased was buried according to Islamic rites with senior military officers of the Nigerian Army in attendance.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun. Said that the police, military and other agencies involved in the management of the #EndBadGovernance protest did not use live ammunition during the protests.
Egbetokun announced this at a meeting of security agencies heads in Abuja.
He said, “The police and the military and indeed no other security agency involved in the management of this protest have not deployed excessive use of force. But, what we had, were attacks on security agents during the protest. From our record, there were no shooting incidents by the police.”
“The police or military did not use any live ammunition in the management of these protests. But, we have had cases where our officers were injured and are in critical condition as we speak.”
“I will dismiss that as fake news and very wrong allegations. Because we did not use excessive force at all. We did not even deploy the whole of our strength in this protest even when it turned violent. We have water cannons we did not deploy, we have rubber bullets, we didn’t use. All that we have used is teargas and nothing more.”
