COAS Lt. Gen. T. Lagbaja
Female soldier ‘accidentally’ shoots dead senior officer at Adamawa checkpoint
Tragedy struck at a military checkpoint in Yola, Monday, when a female soldier enforcing the 24-hr curfew imposed by the Adamawa Government, reportedly shot dead a senior officer in the state.
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri had imposed the curfew after hoodlums broke into government warehouses and looted several items, including palliatives meant to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy.
The female soldier simply identified as ‘Lance Corporal Nkiru Okonkwo,’ shot dead a yet-to-be named Captain who allegedly tried to intervene during her altercation with civilians at the Fire Service Round-about in Yola, the state capital.
Both soldiers are attached to the 23 Armoured Brigade stationed in Yola.
The Nigerian military has yet to confirm or refute the incident, but sources close to the force claim that the victim was subsequently rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, where he was confirmed dead while the female corporal has been arrested by soldiers.
Eyewitness account claim the female soldier had insisted that motorists returning home during the curfew hours must turn back, even as some of the affected civilians had identified themselves as workers on essential duty, but she stood her ground.
“Some people who were stopped at the check point explained themselves as workers on essential duties but the female soldier insisted they must turn back. A captain came forward to intervene. Unfortunately she had already cocked her rifle, so she just fired and killed him accidentally,” a security officer said.
Reports of junior military personnel shooting dead their senior colleagues are not uncommon in the Nigerian army.
