A student has died and two others were wounded when soldiers engaged bandits in gunfight in Jato-Aka, Kwande Local Government Area, Benue State, on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident occurred at Ikpengezwa, a settlement along the Jato-Aka–Kashimbila Road, during a military operation to pursue armed bandits disrupting the area. Residents gave different accounts.
While some fraction allegedly said soldiers mistakenly shot four Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including a student, as they returned from the burial of a traditional ruler, Zaki Hanave Laha, Others reported the soldiers were chasing militants using mourners as cover during a funeral procession.
Another claimed military personnel detained the chief mourner, Tyoor U Yaav, and some youths after the gunfight.
Confirming the casualties, DSP Udeme Edet, Police Public Relations Officer for Benue Command, said,
It is not the killing of students. The military team was returning from patrol when they sighted hoodlums with firearms on a motorcycle. While chasing them, the hoodlums opened fire at the military, and in the process, stray bullets hit three students. Sadly, one was confirmed dead at the hospital, while the others are responding to treatment. Investigation is ongoing
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