The Nigerian Army says its troops mistakenly killed a teenager during the #EndBadGovernance protests in Samaru town in Zaria, Kaduna on Tuesday.
A statement, shortly after the fatal shooting, by army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu said 16-year-old boy Ismail Mohammed was killed by a soldier who wanted to fire a warning shot to disperse hoodlums.
The army said it was alerted by a distress call that the protests in Samaru had turned violent and that hordes of hoodlums were “burning tyres on the road and pelting stones on security personnel.”
Mr Nwachukwu said troops were deployed to restore calm and enforce the curfew that Governor Uba Sani had earlier imposed but that the soldiers were fiercely resisted.
The army spokesperson said that 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 who fired the fatal shot, according to Mr Nwachukwu, has been taken in for questioning while a delegation of officers was sent to condole with the bereaved and attend Mr Mohammed’s burial.
The deceased’s mother, Zainab Sani, said the shooting occurred around 9:00 a.m. at the family’s residence at Sarkin Pawa Street, Samaru, Zaria, by a soldier on patrol alongside his colleagues.
She said the late Isma’il was playing with his friends and brother in front of their house when they saw soldiers coming in their direction.
“With one of the soldiers pointing his gun at them, they ran into the house and shut the gate,” Ms Sani said.
Ms Sani alleged that the soldier, however, shot at the gate, thereby killing Isma’il, who stood by the gate to prevent the soldiers from gaining entry.
She added that his son had just written his final secondary school examination in Zaria and was seeking admission to further his education when the incident occurred.
