How Taraba Wedding Guests Were Gunned Down By Soldiers

They were returning from a wedding around midnight, but an army patrol assumed they were kidnappers and opened fire

Soldiers have killed at least five youths at Bassa village in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State.

They were returning from a wedding ceremony in Garin-Baka around 12 midnight on Thursday when soldiers on patrol assumed they were kidnappers and opened fire on them.

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Isah Umar, who escaped, narrated how he and his friends riding on motorcycles back  to their village , Basa, ran into the soldiers.

The student of Taraba State University said that on sighting the convoy of their motorcycles, the  soldiers opened fire on them.

He said he  escaped into the bush but his friend Habu Yerima who conveyed him on his motorcycle was not lucky as he was  hit by a bullet and died instantly.

Although many said it was a case of mistaken identify, the parents insisted that the soldiers murdered their children intentionally.

Two of the victims were students of Taraba State University and  Taraba State College of Agriculture, all in Jalingo, the state capital.

Parents of the victims who besieged the mortuary of Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo told reporters that their children were murdered in cold blood.

Bello Aliyu Jen, a father whose two sons were killed, demanded immediate investigation.

“We need justice, the army must be accountable to the murder of our innocent children,” he said.

The five victims whose corpses were deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, morgue  are Abdulkadir Bello, Tukur Bello, Philip Yakubu, Habu Yarima and Ya’u Misa.

Police spokesperson, ASP Leha, could not be reached for comment as of the time this report was filed.