Trigger-Happy Nigerian Army Personnel Kill Nursing Mother, Baby, Injure Motorcyclist Over N200 Bribe

In what will come across as a really shocking development, a Nigerian soldier has reportedly shot dead a nursing mother and her baby, according to SaharaReporters.

He killed the mother and child after he injured a commercial motorcyclist popularly known as Okada rider over N200 bribe in Babanna community in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

The incident occurred on Monday evening when the victims were returning home from the Babanna weekly market.

Residents of the area narrated that the soldier fired a gunshot at the commercial motorcycle rider for refusing to pay the N200 bribe he demanded and the bullets penetrated his stomach and hit the woman he was carrying, as well as the baby on her back.

One of the residents identified as Saidu Babanna, told Daily Trust that “One of the soldiers deployed in Babanna to protect lives and property shot three people because of a N200 bribe.

“When the victims were entering Babanna in the morning, soldiers collected N200 from them at their checking point, and when they were returning from Babanna to Nigangi in Benin Republic, the soldiers demanded another N200 from them, which they couldn’t afford to pay. That was what led to a soldier opening fire and killing the three people on a motorcycle on the spot.”

Also, another resident who preferred hidden identity said that “The incident happened on Monday evening. The Babanna market is on Mondays. The victims were returning home from the market. When they were coming in the morning, there were many soldiers at the Benin Republic border who stopped them and collected N200 from them.

“So, when they were going back, the same soldiers stopped them again and demanded N200 again, which the Okada man refused to give. They started arguing and the Okada man kicked his motorcycle and zoomed off and a soldier also kicked another motorcycle and followed him until he overtook him. He then fired the gun and bullets penetrated the stomach of the motorcycle rider and hit the woman he was carrying, killing the woman and the baby instantly.”

According to the resident, the soldier was arrested and taken to the 221 Battalion, Kainji, New-Bussa, Borgu Local Government Area, following a call to military authorities by the district head, adding that while the woman and her baby died on the spot, the Okada man was responding to treatment in a hospital in Benin Republic.

Also speaking on the incident, a source said, “It was the arrest of the soldier and the intervention of the district head that saved the situation from degenerating into a fracas between youths and soldiers.”

Meanwhile, the Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, has not made an official reaction to the incident.

However, the Chairman of Borgu Local Government Area of the State, Alhaji Suleiman Yarima confirmed the incident, saying the woman and her baby died but that the motorcyclist survived and he is receiving treatment at a hospital in Parakou in Benin Republic.