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The Nigerian Army has confirmed the arrest of a soldier fingered in the tragic shooting of a teenage protester in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday morning, resulted in the unfortunate death of Isma’il Muhammad, a secondary school leaver.
According to a statement by the spokesman of the army, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, troops received a distress call about hoodlums gathering and burning tyres, prompting the troops to mobilise and disperse the crowd.
The situation got really bad when the hoodlums attempted to attack the troops, forcing “a soldier to fire a warning shot to scare them away.”
But Nwachukwu said the warning shot claimed Ismail’s life.
The soldier involved has been arrested and is undergoing interrogation, Nwachukwu added.
Additionally, the Chief of Army Staff, Toareed Lagbaja, has sent a delegation to visit and offer condolences to Muhammad’s family.
The deceased was buried according to Islamic rites, with senior military officers in attendance.
Meanwhile, the incident highlights the ongoing face-off between security forces and #EndBadGovernance protesters in Nigeria, with stakeholders raising concerns about the use of excessive force, especially by the police.
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Malam Mohammed Speaks On Son’s Death:
Malam Mohammed, the father of late Ismail Mohammed, gave a different version of how his 19-year-old son was killed.
During an interview, Mohammed narrated the unfortunate incident, noting that soldiers who were scaring protesters away trailed his son to their house and shot him through the door.
“My son, about 19 years old, was outside the house when the soldiers started shooting. He ran inside and locked the door, but the soldiers followed him and shot through the door,” Mohammed said.
According to the grieving father, he learnt about the situation from a call he received while in Hayin Dogo, but it took him an hour to reach home after Ismail was killed.
