Sani Jimoh, father of the late Abdulsamad Jamiu, a serving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member killed by soldiers of the guards brigade quick response force in Dei-Dei, Shagari Estate, Abuja, says military operatives told him his son’s death was a mistake.
In a statement, the guards brigade headquarters had said
Jamiu was caught in a crossfire on April 25 when troops responded to a distress
call from residents reportedly under attack by armed robbers.
“Upon arrival, the troops came under gunfire from the
fleeing armed robbers, resulting in a brief but intense exchange,” the
statement reads.
On Monday, a delegation of the Nigerian Army visited the
family to offer their condolences and inspect the scene of the incident.
However, the family of the deceased has rejected the
military’s account of the incident, arguing that “physical evidence disproves
an exchange of gunfire.”
The family further said their son was killed at about 2am on
Saturday when military personnel entered the estate.
Speaking with TheCable on Monday during a visit to the
family home in Dei Dei, Jimoh said he and his wife were away in Kogi state
attending his mother’s funeral when they received a distress call from his
daughter around 2 am on Saturday, informing him of what happened.
Jimoh added that he spoke with military operatives who told
him the incident occurred while pursuing suspected armed robbers.
The bereaved father said the soldiers claimed they noticed
signs of forced entry into the compound and entered the house, believing
suspects had fled inside.
“They said that they were pursuing a thief, but they
couldn’t see the thief, so 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 said.
“I asked how they gained entrance into the main house, and
they said that it seemed the door was not locked.
“And when you gained access into the main house, they were
trying to open the door (Samad’s room), and somebody was there trying to block
them from opening the door, and what happened now happened.”
Jimoh said he questioned how the situation escalated into a
fatal shooting inside a locked room, but the soldiers said it was a mistake.
“They said that Oga calm down and it was a mistake,” he
said.
According to him, the divisional police officer of the
Deidei police station described the incident as an unfortunate and careless
error.
The civil engineer said the police authorities asked him to
submit a written statement and an undertaking before the body of his son was
released for burial.
‘I WAS THREATENED, TOLD TO SHUT UP’
Jamiu Farida, the late Samad’s sister, who witnessed the
incident, said she was jolted awake by gunshots and was later dragged by
soldiers.
Farida said she was persuaded to leave her room by three
soldiers to confirm that a window had been damaged before the incident.
“I pleaded with them that if I get down, they should not
harm me,” she said.
“They asked me to come outside, and they took me outside to
show me a broken barbed wire that was more damaged than it was before.
“They also showed me a broken window. They asked me whether
this window was like that. I said, yes.”
Farida said she thought the officers would inform her that
Samad had escaped, but on a forceful entry into the room, her brother was in a
pool of blood.
“I thought they wanted to tell me that my brother escaped. I
wanted to go into my brother’s room, 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 told The Cable.
“I was just screaming, and I ran back outside. And one of
the soldiers was threatening me and asked me to shut up.”
She said some neighbours trooped in at the wee hour after
the incident, before the police came, and their house was locked.
“The soldiers called the vigilantes to clean the blood, and
they did. They also packed his brain and buried it in the house close by.”
‘THEY SHOT THE DOOR TWICE’
Abubakar Habiba, mother of the deceased, said she travelled
to Okene when the incident happened, adding that attempts to call her son
failed while relatives initially withheld details of the incident.
Abubakar Habiba, mother of slain Samad
“I was not around; I travelled on Thursday, hoping to come
back on Saturday to meet my son at home. Only for me to receive a call from my
neighbour around 2:30,” she said.
“She called me to say that she was hearing gunshots and
asked if there was no problem, and I told her that I wasn’t around.”
Habiba maintained that the late Samad was shot after
responding to the loud banging on his door, adding that the military operatives
summoned local vigilantes and instructed them to clean bloodstains using items
taken from the family’s kitchen after the shooting.
“I don’t know; maybe he woke up from sleep and was trying to
find out who was there, and they shot him,” she said.
“They shot the door twice. According to what I saw, they
said that after doing that, the soldiers called two vigilantes around the area
to come and mop up the blood.”
“They entered my kitchen, took detergent and a bucket, and
gave the vigilantes instructions to move the blood.”
Yusuf Enesi, friend to Samad
Meanwhile, Yusuf Enesi, one of the late Samad’s friends,
said there had not been an account of violence in the estate until the soldiers
started harassing community members three weeks ago.
Enesi described Samad as a peaceful person, adding that they
had played table tennis together the previous day.
“We had spent Friday night with Samad. We hung out at a
centre; he co-managed a game hub,” Enesi said.
“He played all manner of games, tennis, chess, and snooker,
and I think his last game was a tennis game before we left, and I woke up to
the call in the early hours of Saturday that he was shot in his room.”
Enesi said that the perpetrators had imposed a curfew in the
area despite the absence of crises in the area.
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