Eid-El Kabir Festivity: Military Truck Kills Five Persons

Tom Garba

As Eid-el Kabir Sallah celebrations is peacefully going on in many towns of Adamawa state, a military truck crushed a pick up van on a bridge in Ngurore village, killing the driver and four passengers.

Eye witnesses said the accident occurred when an over speeding military vehicle carelessly overtook another vehicle in the convoy, ramming in to the pickup.

A resident said people rushed to save the lives of the injured but the soldiers blocked the bridge and threatened to deal with anybody who tried to save them.

He added that after the soldiers left, residents cut removed   mutilated bodies of the victims.‎ they were since buried according to Islamic rites.

“They barricaded the bridge and stopped us from taking the injured for two hours until they died. They finally left chanting songs “, he said.

Yusuf Danbala, the father of the deceased driver said he rushed to the accident scene but armed soldiers threatened to shoot him if he did not go away.

He called on the military authorities to fish out those responsible for the death of his son and the other four young men in the vehicle.

“When I learnt about the accident, I rushed to the bridge but soldiers threatened to shoot at me. They prevented rescue. I want justice in this matter”, he said.

Attempts to reach the Assistant Director of Army Public Relations in the 23rd Army Brigade Yola, Captain Nuhu Jafaru were not successful as his phone was switched off.

The Chief of Civilian-Military Relations, Brigadier General Nicholas Rogers has said the military will no longer condone intimidation of civilians by soldiers, calling on the public to report cases of human right abuse.‎