A Nigerian soldier serving in 2 Battalion of 21 Special Armoured Brigade Bama, Borno State, went berserk, shot and killed an officer on Wednesday, Nigeria’s Army Headquarters said.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Musa said the incident occurred when the soldier approached the officer who was standing in front of the Unit’s Headquarters making a phone call.
The army explained that the family of the deceased had been notified and that the soldier was already in custody undergoing investigation.
According to him, the deceased officer had been evacuated to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.
It was learnt that the soldier had shot dead his adjutant, Lt. Babakaka Ngorgi, for allegedly refusing to give him a travel pass to enable him resolve his inability to access his salary account, which had been frozen for about eight months.
The private was said to have fired some rounds at the officer, who was making a phone call in front of the unit headquarters on Wednesday.
The killer soldier was immediately taken into custody at the scene of the incident, while the remains of the officer were evacuated to the 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.
The shooting reportedly threw the officers and men of the 202 Battalion into confusion.
Military sources said the suspected killer’s bank account was frozen by the authorities because he went AWOL (Away Without Official Leave) for six months.
He was said to have returned to his unit in Bama and had been pestering the deceased to give him a travel pass so that he could sort out the problem, but Ngorgi reportedly refused to accede to his request.
But the matter took a tragic turn when the soldier went to the deceased’s office and gunned him down.
Ngorgi, according to reports, got married last December.
A source confirmed that, “the adjutant refused to give the soldier a pass to go and solve his problem after eight months without salary and allowances. The soldier had gone AWOL for six months and his account was frozen.
“So, on Wednesday morning, he emptied his magazine of 30 rounds on the officer. The soldier was arrested and handcuffed immediately.”
