Four teenagers and a would-be bride were said to have been killed by security agents during the hunger protests in Kano and Zaria.
One Isma’il Muhammad, 18, was also gunned down yesterday by a soldier in Samaru, Zaria, in Kaduna State.
The Kano incidents happened at Kofar Nassarawa, Kurnar Asabe and Rjiyar Lemo.
One of the victims, Abdulkadir Labaran Babah Alfindiki, was allegedly killed at Kofar Nassarawa.
Speaking to the Daily Trust, his caregiver, Aisha Isah Babah, said: “He left home for his business place. Worried that he didn’t come for his launch, I became uncomfortable. I did not call him nor did I talk to anybody about my worries. Little did I know that he was killed.”
She said she left everything to God as the deceased was an orphan and she cannot fight to get justice for him.
The mother of one 15-year-old Kashifu Abdullahi Gyaranya, who was also killed during the protest, Maryam Sani, said: “As he was leaving home, I asked him where he was going to, but he told me that he was going outside to see his friends. I warned him not to join the protest. He said he would not. Only for me to be called and informed that he was killed. And that is all.”
A bride-to-be, Firdausi Muhammad, was reportedly killed by a stray bullet, allegedly from the rifle of a policeman in Rijiyar Lemo, during the protest on Saturday. She was to get married next week.
One Umar Abubakar Hausawa was also said to have been killed by a police stray bullet during the protest at Kofar Nassarawa the same day.
His brother, Rabiu Abubakar, said: “When he was told that our younger brothers had joined the protesters, he was angry and told our mother that he was going to call them back. That was how he went and met his untimely death there.”
Reacting, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa said that the police tried to maintain law and order in Rijiyar Lemo as the youths of the area tried to overpower them.
He said the law has allowed the police to defend themselves, adding that the command had launched an investigation into the cases.
The 18-year-old secondary school leaver, Isma’il Muhammad, was said to have been shot dead at about 9 am yesterday by a soldier on patrol in Samaru, Zaria.
It was gathered that Muhammad was shot dead at his residence at Sarkin Pawa Street, by a soldier who was on patrol, alongside his colleagues.
The deceased’s mother, Zainab Sani, said he was playing with his friends and a brother in front of their house, “but when they sighted the soldiers coming towards their direction with one of them pointing his gun at them, they ran into their house and shut the gate.
She demanded that the soldier be brought to justice.
The GOC 1 Division, Major General M.L.D. Saraso visited the residence of the deceased and met with the bereaved family.
Addressing youths in the area after he interacted with the family of the deceased, Saraso said he visited to commiserate with the family and the community over the incident.
He assured that the incident would be thoroughly investigated, asking any community member with substantive evidence to forward for necessary action.
General Saraso described the incident as “unfortunate”, and urged the community to live in peace and always be law-abiding.
