Shooting range: Residents flee as army bullets hit homes in Ibadan

Some residents of the community around 2 Division Nigeria Army, Odogbo in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have fled their homes following the alleged constant shelling of their property during the training of men of the Nigeria Army. Our correspondent reports that a visit to the area on Thursday showed the damage done to their […]

Some residents of the community around 2 Division Nigeria Army, Odogbo in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have fled their homes following the alleged constant shelling of their property during the training of men of the Nigeria Army.

Our correspondent reports that a visit to the area on Thursday showed the damage done to their buildings and vehicles by bullets fired by soldiers.

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Daily Trust was told that many residents had relocated from the area.

The residents told our correspondent that despite complaints about the destruction of their property, the army authorities refused to stop.

A community leader, Asimiyu Abdulrauf, who spoke on behalf of the residents, said the people had become frustrated while appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Senate as well as House of Representatives committees on the Nigerian Army to come to their rescue.

He said, “Government should help us. They should not wait till they finish destroying us before taking a step to stop this.

“We live in fear because we don’t know who would be affected. Windows are broken by bullets, roofs are perforated, vehicles are damaged and that is how we have been living.

“The area was not acquired by the government or Nigerian Army. If it was, we would not have built here. We have lost so much to this but the army authorities are not concerned because we don’t have influential people who can tackle them.

“We are appealing to army authorities again to stop shooting into our areas because our lives are in danger. Some have died as a result of shock due to the shootings. Is government going to wait till they kill of us before they will stop them?”

Efforts to get the reaction of the Deputy Director of Information at 2 Division Nigeria Army, Lt. Col Charles Ekeocha, proved abortive as messages sent to him had not been replied to at the time of filing this report.