The Nigerian Army has said it is
searching for one of its personnel who reportedly shot dead a fruit seller over
N300 banana and water melon in Zamfara State.
The army in a release on Tuesday
vowed to bring the erring soldier to justice, even though it failed to disclose
the identity of the soldier.
There had been reports that the
fruit vendor in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, Abdulkadir Musa, was shot
dead for refusing to allow the soldier to go away with his bunch of fruits
without paying for it.
The father of the deceased,
Alhaji Mustafa Musa, had stated that two soldiers went to his son’s fruits
stand on Sunday and purchased a bunch of bananas.
According to him, when the
soldiers paid for the bunch, they tried to collect another one for free and
this led to a squabble.
Mustafa stated, “They bought a bunch of bananas for N300 and instead of them to
take the one they paid for, they also took another one and wanted to go with
it, but my son did not allow them to do so.
“When they insisted that they must go with the bunches of bananas, the fruit
vendor rushed to the police station, which was very close to the scene of the
incident, and reported the case and the two soldiers were arrested, but they
were released shortly after.”
Mustafa added that immediately the soldiers were released, one of them went
home, fetched a gun and returned to the scene and shot the fruit vendor.
“My son was shot in the back and
we took him to the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, but unfortunately, he
lost his life,” Mustafa said.
The Director, Army Public
Relations, Brig Gen Mohammed Yerima, in a release, said, “The army wishes to
state that the sad incident is quite regrettable and it condoles with the
family of the deceased.
“It is worthy of note that the
General Officer Commanding 8 Division, Maj Gen Usman Yusuf, has since
commissioned an investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the
altercations which eventually claimed one life as efforts are ongoing to arrest
the perpetrator.
“The army wishes to state
clearly that, the alleged perpetrator, once identified will be subjected to a
thorough investigation and if found wanting, will be made to face the full
wrath of the law in accordance with extant provisions.”
Source: SaharaReporters
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