The Nigerian Army has admitted that one of its soldiers was responsible for the death of 16-year-old Ismail Mohammed during the #EndBadGovernance protest in Zaria.
This admission directly contradicts claims made by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, who had asserted that no police or military personnel fired live ammunition during the protests.
The incident came to light after videos circulated on social media showing Mohammed’s body beside a military van. Onyema Nwachukwu, the Army Public Relations Director, confirmed the incident on Wednesday, detailing the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
According to Nwachukwu, the troops were responding to a distress call about hoodlums gathering in Samaru, where they were burning tires and throwing stones at security personnel. The army had been deployed to enforce a curfew imposed by the Kaduna State Government.
“On arrival at the scene, 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 army stated. The soldier involved has been arrested and is undergoing interrogation.
However, IGP Egbetokun had a different account of the events. In an earlier statement, he claimed that neither the police nor the military used excessive force or live ammunition during the protests.
“The police and the military, and indeed no other security agency involved in the management of this protest, have deployed excessive use of force,” Egbetokun said. He emphasized that the security forces were attacked during the protest and that records showed no incidents of live ammunition being used by police.
