IBADAN—THE
about 450,000 residents in 20 communities around 2 Division, Nigeria Army,
Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment, Odogbo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have started
fleeing their residences as a stray bullet hit
a four-year-old pupil of a
private school in Ajobo Omilabu area of the ancient city, yesterday.
The boy,
identified as Abdul Lateef Adeyemi, was reportedly hit within his school
premises by stray bullet fired by soldiers from a shooting range.
The Chairman
of Ajobo Omilabu Landlords’ Association, Alfa Kazeem Ijeru, told journalists in
Ibadan, yesterday, that it was the bullet from the ongoing shooting at the
range at Odogbo Barracks that hit the boy, who he said is currently in a
serious condition at a military hospital.
Alfa Adeyemi
said: “About seven years ago, we bought plots of land. It was when we got to
the area that we started hearing gunshots. We were scared and went to the land
owners to complain, but we were told that there was no cause for alarm and that
it was from the barracks.”
‘Soldiers beat us’
According to
Adeyemi, “they added then that the bullets being used were rubber bullets that could
not kill. But later, we discovered that this was not so. The first set of
people who went to the barracks to complain were beaten up.
“Yet we
still went there to complain. The Army told us that they will not use the place
as shooting range again and that they will move to Alamala in Abeokuta. The
shooting stopped for some time then.”
He said when
they started hearing gunshots again, they made efforts to see the General
Officer Commanding, GOC, of the 2 Division.
According to
him, “this morning (yesterday), we were getting ready around 11a.m. to make the
appointment with the GOC by 12 noon, when someone told me that a pupil of
Oluyemisi Nursery and Primary School has been hit in the head and was bleeding
profusely.
“We rushed
there to see the GOC, but the soldiers at the gate did not allow any of us to
enter except the mother of the affected child. The bullets we picked to show
them as proof were collected from us.
“Already,
many of us will not sleep in that community tonight because the shooting still
continues at the range. Do you know that people could not rescue the boy
immediately because as they wanted to pick him, there were bullets still flying
around.”
Army’s reaction
Reacting to
the incident, the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 2 Division Nigerian
Army, Col. Ezindu Idima, said the GOC had ordered investigation into the issue
to ascertain where the bullet that hit the boy came from.
He said:
“Before we started shooting range classification, we sent out a press release
and also went to the communities living around the barracks.
“The nearest
community to the barracks is about 2.3 kilometres and the effective range of
AK-47, which we used for the range classification is about 300 metres.
“We went to
the communities again this morning to see what happened. We are investigating
to know what actually happened.”
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