Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, said it has arrested the soldier who killed a teenage protester in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Recall that one of the soldiers on patrol in Samaru, Zaria, reportedly gunned down the victim, Isma’il Muhammad, who was a secondary school leaver, at about 9am on Tuesday.
Samaru community hosts hundreds of staff and students of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Muhammad was allegedly shot dead at his residence at Sarkin Pawa Street.
According to his mother, Zainab Sani, he was playing with his friends and a brother in front of their house, “but when they sighted the soldiers coming towards their direction with one of them pointing his gun at them, they ran into their house and shut the gate”.
GOC 1 Division, Major General M.L.D. Saraso, who visited the residence of the deceased, held a meeting with the bereaved family.
Saraso, who addressed youths in the area after he interacted with the family of the deceased, said he visited to commiserate with the family and the community over the incident.
He assured that the incident would be thoroughly investigated and urged community members with substantive evidence to forward for necessary action.
The GOC 1 Div described the incident as “unfortunate”, appealing to the community to live in peace and always be law-abiding.
The Nigerian Army, in a statement on Wednesday, by its spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, soldiers were enforcing the 24-hour curfew imposed on Kaduna and Zaria metropolis following reports of violence during the #EndBadGovernance protests in Kaduna.
Nwachukwu said the soldiers were attacked by some hoodlums while enforcing the curfew in Zaria.
He added that hoodlums were throwing stones at security personnel and burning tyres despite the curfew.
The Army spokesperson explained that the soldier fired a warning shot to disperse the protesters but accidentally killed the boy.
The statement read, “On 6 August 2024, troops of the Nigerian Army received a distress call that some hoodlums gathered in Samaru in large numbers, burning tires on the road and pelting stones on 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 attacking the troops, prompting 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 undergoing interrogation as at the time of this report.”
It added that the Chief of Army Staff, Toareed Lagbaja, had sent a high-powered delegation to visit and condole with the family of the deceased.
