Soldier who killed innocent civilians could be under influence of drugs - Army

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BY USMAN MOHAMMED, MARCH 26, 2022 | 12:42 AM


Nigerian Army has said that a soldier who was arrested and detained for killing of innocent residents of Mafa Local Government Area of Borno may have allegedly done so under the influence of drugs.

YERWA EXPRESS NEWS has earlier reported on Wednesday how the soldier opened unprovoked fire on commuters and wedding guests in the town.

At the end of the shootings, he ended up killing a yet-to-be confirmed number of people.

Army gave the figure as seven. It also said nine persons were injured.

Col. Obinna Azuikpe, acting theatre intelligence coordinator, Operation Hadin Kai explained that the soldier carried out the "massacre" under the influence of drugs.

'We call it a dastardly act, he is our solder, a very young soldier at Mafa, where seven civilians were unfortunately killed and about nine are severely injured. Most of these cases were attributes to issues of hard drugs', he said.

'We have paid condolence visit to the families of those that have been harmed in one way or the other, and the theatre commander has set up a joint committee to investigate and maintain these issues.'

He also explained that moving forward, the theatre will review the existing code of conduct of the soldiers, to deal with the root causes of such actions and ensure it is fully abided by.

Azikwe added that regular training and retraining will similarly be continuously conducted by the theatre to address the problems of trauma and other mental health conditions.

'To manage the traumatic aspect of the solders, the theatre commander has come up with a laudable policy that every officer or soldier must not stay here more than three months,' Azikwe said.


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