By Emmanuella Oghenetega
Controversies have continued to trail the killing of nine women in Adamawa state who were said to be protesting in Lamurde Local Government Area.
This is as the Nigerian Army, including concerned citizens have reacted to the shooting.
The women, who were in a group of protesters, were said to be protesting against the insecurity consuming their communities.
It is recalled, that the tragic and very unfortunate incident was said to have occurred at Rigange junction. Although, reports claimed that the incident occurred when soldiers escorting the Brigade Commander, Amechi Agwu, of the 23 Brigade opened fire on a group of protesters and killed no fewer than seven women, Nigerians have however reacted to the incident with the Nigerian Army refuting the purported reports.
Comrade Timi Frank, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in his reaction to the incident, condemned in strong terms the killings. According to him, nine protesting women were reportedly killed by the military operatives.
He stated that soldiers had allegedly opened fire on the group of protesting women in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
He further stated that, “51 others were said to have been hospitalised while most of them are still receiving treatment for varying degrees of gunshot wounds, many of them life-threatening.”
Frank who is a political activist, further described the killing of the nine women as “senseless, unforgivable, inhuman and avoidable.”
He noted that “The victims; ordinary women, mothers and breadwinners who had stepped out only to protest the insecurity consuming their communities, were met with lethal force when all they sought was protection for their children. Their only offence was demanding safety,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army, in a statement signed by the Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Captain Olusegun Abidoye, described the report as an attempt to smear the image of the Nigerian Army.
The statement read in part that, “The attention of Headquarters 23 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to a baseless report by the Sahara Reporters and some other online media. The said report levelled unfounded and false allegations against the Brigade and its Commander.”
According to Abidoye, neither the brigade commander nor his escorts were at the scene of the communal clash. He further stated that the Brigade Commander was participating virtually in the Chief of Army Staff’s weekly operational brief at the time of the purported shooting by his escorts at the time of the incident.
He added that the communal clash was a result of land disputes between two conflicting tribes, the Chobo and Bachama tribes and troops were deployed to the scene to restore normalcy to the affected communities.
“In the course of its operations, a militia armed group suspected of fighting for one of the warring communities- Chobo attacked the troops .The troops, being a professional, adaptable and combat ready force decisively engaged the militia armed men in the fire fight. During the exchange of fire, troops neutralized 3 of the gunmen and forced other members of the militia group to flee the general area. The troops were able to put the clashes under control,” said Abidoye.
Abidoye further noted that the troops received a distress call that the warring community had mobilised to attack Lamurde Local Government’s Secretariat and moved to secure the secretariat, but some women denied them entrance into the secretariat.
He also stated that the dead women were killed by armed militias who lack training to handle weapons.
“Without equivocation, the casualties were caused by the unprofessional handling of automatic weapons by the local militias who are not proficiently trained to handle such automatic weapons.” he said.
