The sister of slain National Youth Service Corps member (NYSC), Abdulsamad Jamiu, has narrated her harrowing experience during an incident that led to the death of her brother in Abuja.
PrimeTimes Nigeria had earlier reported that the Nigerian Army on Sunday claimed that Jamiu lost his life during a shootout between troops and armed robbers in Abuja.
The family of the deceased, however, rejected the angle of the military, claiming that Jamiu was killed.
Jamiu Farida, who was in the house at the time of the incident, said she was jolted awake by the sound of gunfire in the early hours of the morning.
She explained to The Cable that three soldiers later persuaded her to come out of her room under the pretext of confirming damage within the compound.
“I pleaded with them that if I get down, they should not harm me,” she said.
Farida said the soldiers took her outside and showed her what they claimed were signs of intrusion.
“They took me outside to show me a broken barbed wire… They also showed me a broken window. They asked me whether this window was like that. I said, yes,” she recounted.
She said she initially believed the soldiers wanted to inform her that her brother had escaped. However, the situation took a tragic turn when she attempted to enter his room.
“I thought they wanted to tell me that my brother escaped… but they dragged me, and I struggled with them until I discovered that my brother was dead and part of his brain was beside him on the floor,” she said.
Farida said she screamed and ran outside, but alleged that one of the soldiers threatened her.
“I was just screaming… and one of the soldiers was threatening me and asked me to shut up,” she added.
She further alleged that after the incident, soldiers called in local vigilantes to clean up the scene.
“The soldiers called the vigilantes to clean the blood… They also packed his brain and buried it in the house close by,” she claimed.