Nigerian Soldiers Allegedly Kill Nine Youths Arrested During Burial Ceremony In Benue State

No fewer than nine youths have been allegedly killed by men of the Nigerian Army in Tse Ugir village, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue state.

SaharaReporters gathered that the youths were arrested by the soldiers at a burial ceremony in the community on Sunday.

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Their dead bodies were found by the roadside on Tuesday.

A source told SaharaReporters that three of his family members were killed by the soldiers who gave no reason for their action.

He identified some of the deceased as Aondofa Uza, Verne Vihiga, Aondohemba Hambe and Chianen Ibom Asema.

“Those guys went to burial on Sunday, and the burial was on Sunday night. They killed my brothers, three of them. One of them was the one selling alcohol at the ceremony. The others were assisting..” he told SaharaReporters.

“Around 9 pm, army officers stormed the place, so they arrested them. They picked them randomly, let me say the unlucky ones. So about nine boys were picked.

“They took them to the army formation in the community; they have a base here. The next day, the family went there to know why the boys were arrested. But we were denied access to the formation. We stayed around there throughout the days, but nobody attended to explain why the boys were arrested.

“To our surprise, we started seeing the dead bodies of those arrested by the roadside the following day; they brought them in batches. The first one was in the morning, my elder brother was among them. Again in the evening time, my two other brothers were among them.”

On Friday, five youths, including a final year Higher National Diploma (HND) student of the College of Agriculture, Jalingo, Taraba State, were shot dead by soldiers, who opened fire on them.

The incident, which occurred in Baka village of Ardo-Kola Council, led to tension across the state.

The victims, who were said to have been returning to their various residences from a wedding ceremony in Baka, were said to have been mistaken for members of a kidnap gang by the soldiers patrolling the area, with several others on the same journey reportedly sustaining injuries.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers did not interrogate them before opening fire on the youths on motorcycles.

There were bullet wounds on the victims’ bodies when they were brought to the Federal Medical Centre,, Mogul, where they were deposited.