Soldiers Killed My Son During Elections - Father

An elderly citizen of Bauchi state said that a soldier killed his 28-year-old son who went to monitor the collation of presidential election results.

Alhaji Yahaya Wunti, aged 78, narrated that his son Mohammed Bello had left home at Wunti on March 29, Sunday, and headed to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission where results were being collated.

He was quoted as saying by The Punch:

“Mohammed always asked for my permission before leaving the house. He came to me that fateful day at around 11am and informed me that he wanted to go to INEC and I asked him whether he was carrying any incriminating thing on him and he said, ‘no’.

“It was just about 10 minutes after he left that they brought his dead body [and said] that he was shot by a soldier.”

READ ALSO: INEC Commissioner, His Family Burnt To Death

The grieving father could not understand why his son had been killed.

“He was a good boy, who did not like making trouble. He was a mason and was very hardworking but he was very passionate about Buhari. I know my son wouldn’t break the law because of his love for Buhari, so I wonder why the soldier chose to waste a promising young man like Mohammed.”

Mallam Ali Wakili, Bauchi South senator-elect (APC), lamented over the tragic development and sympathized with the family.

He said that the army had assured him that they would investigate the matter and make justice prevail.

Several unconfirmed reports provided different versions of the incident which ended in Mohammed’s death.

One of them contains that first Mohammed threw a stone at the soldiers who were trying to control the crowd of Buhari’s supporters. In reaction, one of the soldiers was said to have shot the young man in the head.

Based on another account, unsuspecting Mohammed was in the crowd when he was suddenly shot.

Mohammed’s friend, who pleaded for anonymity, alleged that the soldier had killed him intentionally adding that they were standing far from the area barricaded by the security.

It should be noted that no cases of mass violence were recorded during the presidential and National Assembly elections. However, 100 people reportedly died in exuberant celebrations of Buhari’s victory.