Soldier kills colleague, aid worker, injures others in Borno

A soldier of the 25 Task Force Brigade in Borno State, on Thursday, killed his colleague, a female humanitarian aid worker, and injured a United Nations (UN) pilot at a military base in the state.

The soldier was said to have attempted to kill more people but was neutralised by his colleagues.

It was gathered that the soldier, on Thursday, walked off his base in a remote town of Damboa in Borno State and went on a shooting spree using an Ak47 riffle.

The development compelled humanitarian workers of an international non-governmental organisation waiting at the military base to board a helicopter back to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital to scamper to safety.

One of the humanitarian agencies’ workers, Abdulkareem Ibrahim, disclosed that the soldier emptied his magazine and after realising that he had ran out of bullets, he brought out a jack knife.

“He stabbed a female staff of one of the international NGOs four times, killing her before injuring the helicopter pilot,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim added that the rampaging soldier again turned and chased his colleagues before he was gunned down to prevent further disaster.

He said the pilots and the crew were safely back to Maiduguri, adding that efforts were ongoing to stabilise the wounded co-pilot at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

Speaking on the incident via a statement issued on Thursday, the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations. Headquarters, Theatre Command, Maj. Samson Zhakom, said the soldier shot and killed an official of one of the NGOs providing humanitarian support in the North-East.

Zhakom noted that the injured co-pilot had been stabilised while the corpses of the deceased have been moved to the 7 Division Hospital.

He added that detailed investigation into the incident and subsequent remedial actions have commenced.

He stated: “The Theatre Command Operation HADIN KAI regrets to inform the public of a sad occurrence at one of our military base today.

“A soldier shot and killed a staff of one of the NGOs providing humanitarian support in the North East. Same soldier also killed another soldier and injured the co-pilot of one of the UN helicopters.

“Own troops on the ground immediately neutralized the errant personnel. The injured co-pilot has been stabilized while the corpses of the deceased have been moved to the 7 Division Hospital.

“Detailed investigation into the incident and subsequent remedial actions have commenced into the highly regrettable incident. Further details will be provided later,” Zhakom disclosed.

The Star