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Soldiers in Taraba State on April 2, 2021 allegedly gunned down five youths who were returning from a wedding. Mallam Bello Jen, whose two sons were among the slain youths, speaks to TYOPUUSU JUSTIN about his quest for justice
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Mallam Bello Aliyu Jen. I am a retired civil servant with the Taraba State Government and I hail from Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of the state. Currently, I am an ex-officio member of the Taraba State Union of Pensioners.
Two of your sons were among the five youths recently killed by soldiers. How did it happen?
No fewer than five youths have been shot dead by soldiers of the Nigerian Army in Baka village in the Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State.
According to Daily Post, the youths, who were attending a wedding were riding motorcycles, but the soldiers opened fire on them early on Friday, on the suspicion that they were kidnappers.
File photo used to illustrate story.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers did not interrogate them before opening fire on the youths on motorcycles.
The remains of the youths have been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre in Jalingo.
The soldiers, who were in the community to check the activities of hoodlums terrorising the state, were said to have mistaken the youths for kidnappers.
How Taraba Wedding Guests Were Gunned Down By Soldiers dailytrust.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailytrust.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The informants, residing in Jalingo and towns and villages across the state, are the ones who give directions to the kidnappers to abduct people for ransom because they live among the people and know them better.
The rate of kidnapping, it was gathered, has instilled fear in the minds of residents of Jalingo as well as those residing in other parts of the state.
The hoodlums in recent weeks have killed five persons including a local government chairman and secretary of one of the chiefdoms in the state, apart from those killed few years ago.
Similarly, the hoodlums who operate mostly in the night have abducted several individuals including a member of the State House of Assembly and a special Assistant to Governor Darius Ishaku and collected huge sums as ransom.