The family of 22-year-old Muhammad Sulum, who was shot and robbed by a soldier a fortnight ago in Maiduguri, Borno State say they would not stop crying for justice until the killer of the star of their home goes to jail. Two soldiers identified as James Isuwa and Umoh are currently in custody over the killing. On Thursday November 6, 2014, Inuwa who was said to be in uniform at the time, reportedly stopped Muhammad at Bolori Layout in Maiduguri,
got into his vehicle and ordered him to drive ahead.
He was told to park at a point where the soldier could easily carry out his plan. He shot him at a close range. Taking Mohammed for dead, the soldier pushed him out of the 1998 Honda Accord and zoomed off.
The deceased was later rescued by passers-by in a pool of his blood. He was handed over to vigilantes in the area who rushed him to the hospital where he died.
Muhammad reportedly gave the account of his encounter with his assailant before he passed on.
The account, which vigilantes relayed to his family after his death, indicated that around 6.30pm on Thursday, October 6, 2014, he went out to buy engine oil for the family’s generator. The soldier who shot him was one of the personnel manning the military checkpoint near their house, close to a mini market in Bolori.
The soldier was said to have stopped him and asked for a ride. He pleaded that he could not get a taxi to the headquarters of the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army at Pompomari Layout, Maiduguri.
According to the family, Muhammad crawled on the ground screaming for help. He eventually attracted the attention of a tricycle driver.
Speaking for the family, his uncle, Mr. Abana Abana, told our correspondent that Muhammad, whom they fondly called Baba, had finished his first degree in Physics and defended his undergraduate thesis two weeks earlier. He said, “While his father was away at work in Abuja being a civil servant, Baba did all was required of him as a man of the house. He ran all errands and took his young ones to school. I cannot even describe the agony of his mother currently. The mother is inconsolable. She will only be consoled if justice is done.
“The day he was shot, there was no news of him throughout the day. His mother started to suspect something was wrong because it was unusual of him to stay out late. Due to the curfew in Borno, nobody could move around to look for him.”
His mother, Maryam, was said to have frantically called his friends and family members throughout the night trying to find out where her son could have gone to without an answer.
Early in the morning the family members went in search to different locations, and finally someone suggested they searched the mortuary of the specialist hospital in Maiduguri. There his body was found.
“Muhammad was a very brilliant student and we were even hoping that he would graduate with a First Class. He is awaiting his result and national service mobilisation but look how he ended up now,” his uncle said.
Abana said the two soldiers apprehended in Muhammad’s car would have driven out of Maiduguri and would never have been found if not because they stopped over to buy fuel.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that an observant pump attendant made the arrest of Isuwa and Umoh possible at an Oando filling station along Baga Road, Maiduguri. He was said to have become suspicious of the car when it pulled over to buy fuel. He quickly alerted Civilian JTF personnel nearby who arrested Inuwa and his companion, Umoh.
The Muslim Rights Concern has taken up the case, petitioning the National Human Rights Commission to ensure that justice is done in the case.
A letter signed by Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, said that unfortunately for Muhammad’s killers, they were sighted while buying fuel.
MURIC said, “They were accosted by the civilian vigilantes because the car had been reported missing the previous day. They were subsequently handed over to the military in Maiduguri.
“The killing of this promising young man is a crime against humanity. Yet it is just one out of so many unreported killings and wanton violations of Allah-given and fundamental human rights of civilians in North East Nigeria since the beginning of the Boko Haram insurgency.”
MURIC requested that the NHRC should take up the case to ensure that it is not swept under the carpet, the culprits are brought to justice and adequate compensation is paid to the victim’s parents.
Muhammad was said to have undertaken an industrial attachment at the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority in Abuja.
An employee of the authority, Mr. Abdullahi Ali, who eulogised the deceased on his Facebook wall, said, “I can vividly remember those days when Mohammed was in my office as a student on industrial attachment, he was such a gentle being will high hopes for the future. I liked him because he was a Physics student from the same department I graduated from in UNIMAID. It is so unfortunate that his life was cut short.”
The suspects in the case are currently being held at the 7th Division Headquarters of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri.
Spokesperson for the division, Col. S.K. Usman, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report. But family said they would only believe the Nigerian Army is willing to give them justice when the arrested soldiers are charged to court.
No comments:
Post a Comment