Good Friday Turns Bloody In Taraba As Final Year Student, Four Others Killed By Nigerian Soldiers

Some Nigerian soldiers have reportedly killed five youths who were returning from a wedding ceremony in Baka village of Ardo-Kola Local Government Council of Taraba State.

According to DAILY POST, the youths whose ages range from twenty to twenty-seven were shot dead and several others injured at the early hours of Friday in Baka village.

The affected youths were said to be returning from a wedding ceremony when they met their untimely deaths in the hands of the soldiers who mistook them for kidnappers.

The remains of the victims have been deposited in the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre which is located in Jalingo metropolis.

Speaking with newsmen at the hospital premises, parents of the victims who were seen in tears, said they could not understand why the soldiers opened fire on the youths upon sighting them on motorcycles instead of arresting them.

One of the parents identified as Bello Aliyu Jen said that two of his sons were among the five youths killed by the soldiers.

He gave the names of his deceased sons as Tukur Bello, 20, and Abdulkadir Bello, a 27-year-old final year HND student of the College of Agriculture, Jalingo.

Aliyu called on the government to do the needful by bringing the soldiers to book, He said his dream had been shattered as his sons who according to him have been working round the clocks to put smiles on his face are “no more”.

A top security personnel, who spoke at the hospital scene, apportioned blames to parents who according to him always allow their children and wards to “go out at late hours. ”

The deputy speaker of the State House of Assembly, Harman Adama, who was also sighted at the hospital premises, said that two of his first cousins were among the five youths that were gunned down by the soldiers.

The Deputy Speaker who observed that the incident occurred during the dead hours of the day cautioned parents and guardians to always tread extra legitimate miles to prevent their children and ward from going out of their houses at late hours.

He said the soldiers involved were given presidential directives to flush out hoodlums from the state, noting that their actions were not intentional.