(The bereaved father. Photo by Punch newspaper)
According to Sani Jimoh, the father of Abdulsamad Jamiu, a member of the National Youth Service Corps who was allegedly slain by soldiers at Dei-Dei, Abuja, the Nigerian Army acknowledged that his son’s death was an error.
According to PUNCH Online, the Nigerian Army’s Guards Brigade headquarters stated that the dead was killed in crossfire during a gunfight with alleged armed thieves.
Odunola Olawuyi, the Brigade’s spokeswoman, stated in a statement last Sunday that when troops reacted to a distress call regarding an armed robbery, they were fired upon by escaping suspects.
The fleeing armed thieves opened fire on the military as they arrived, sparking a brief but fierce altercation. Mr. Jamiu was caught in the crossfire during the engagement, according to the statement.
He called the event “tragic,” noting that although attempts were made to secure the area and save the locals, Jamiu eventually passed away from his wounds.
On Monday, a Nigerian Army mission paid the family a visit to express condolences and examine the scene of the tragedy.
The deceased’s father and his family, however, have denied the story, claiming that “physical evidence disproves an exchange of gunfire.”
During a visit to the family home on Monday, Jimoh told TheCable that he and his wife were in Kogi State for a funeral when their daughter called them in distress at around two in the morning on April 25.
He claims the troops informed him that they had entered the compound while chasing a possible thief.
“They went through the back and saw that the barbed wire was altered, and they thought someone had jumped through it inside my compound,” he explained. “They said that they were pursuing a thief, but they couldn’t see the thief.”
Jimoh went on to say that the agents tried to force open his son’s room and said they were able to enter the residence because the door seemed to be unlocked.
When I asked how they entered the main residence, they replied that it appeared the door was unlocked.
“And when you got inside the main house, they were attempting to open Samad’s room door, and someone was there attempting to prevent them from doing so, and what happened now happened,” he explained.
The grieving father insisted that his kid was in his room when he was killed and questioned how the scenario turned into a deadly gunshot.
Jimoh replied, “They said that Oga calmed down, and it was a mistake.”
Jimoh further revealed that the Dei-Dei Divisional Police Officer characterized the incident as a regrettable and negligent mistake, and that before releasing his son’s body, the police demanded that he provide a written statement and an assurance.
Jamiu Farida, the deceased’s sister, claimed that she was carried by troops after being startled by gunfire.
She added, “I begged them not to hurt me if I got down.”
“Until I realized that my brother was dead and that a piece of his brain was on the floor next to him, I thought they wanted to tell me that my brother escaped,” she continued.
She further claimed that vigilante members were ordered to clean up the area after one of the soldiers threatened to keep quiet.
“The vigilantes were brought in by the army to clean up the blood, and they succeeded. She added, “They also packed his brain and buried it in the nearby house.”