Man cries out, demands justice after soldiers tortured him over land dispute (Photos)
Story from Haruna YUSUF, Abuja
Malam Danladi Ya’u, an indigene of Borno State in North-Eastern Nigeria engages in tomatoes business in Dei-Dei market Abuja, has narrated how he was brutalised by Nigeria soldiers on the 24th of December 2021.
According to Ya’u, he received a telephone call on the 24th of December 2021 in the afternoon from his friend who told him that there were some persons on his master’s plot of land in Dei-Dei, so he decided to go to the location of the land to confirm.
He said, “When I got to the place, I met some people there on my boss’s land, I greeted them, picked my phone from my pocket and stepped aside to call my boss. In the process, one of them who was holding a dog by its collar ordered the dog to attack me. As I struggled with it, the soldiers standing there when I arrived began to beat me and i went into coma. They (soldiers) removed the sum of (250, 000, two hundred and fifty thousand naira from me and my 2 rings, worth (25,000,) twenty five thousand Naira. They tore my clothes and left me with my boxers.” He revealed.
According to Ya’u, a man called Segun Daniel, was the one who brought the soldiers to help him secure the land. “Those that live adjacent the land, told me that the six soldiers have been living in Segun’s house which is also a stone throw from the location of the land”.
Narrating further, he said while the soldiers were beating him, they noticed he had fainted so they carried him to Segun’s resident and began to use shock gun on him.
“When the soldiers took me to Segun’s house, they poured water on me and they kept using ‘shock gun’ to electrocute me. That was what I went through in the hands of the soldiers that Segun Daniel brought, Ya’u said.
In addition, he said due to the beating, the soldiers damaged his ‘left hip joint “now I can’t walk or stand comfortably without the use of crutches. After the beat me to stupor, Mr Daniel went to hire a taxi to convey my collapsed body out of his house.
“When he brought the taxi, the soldiers dumped me inside the car booth and drove off to Gwagwa police station. The police station now took me to a hospital closeby”. He alleged.
A witness, Kabiru Bampa said he saw when soldiers were fixing their ‘sign post’ on the plot of land and they were also using blocks to build fence around the land at the same time.
Additionally Bampa said, “As the soldiers were building fence and fixing sign post that was when Danladi Ya’u came to the scene and met the soldiers, greeted them and stepped aside to call his boss. It was at that point they started beating him and handcuffed both his legs and hands. They tore his clothes and when he fainted, they took him to Segun Daniel’s house and began to pour him water. Sometimes the soldiers would use shock gun on him, then around 4pm in the evening of that day, Daniel brought a car and they put him in the booth, which I later heard they headed to the police station in Gwagwa community”. Kabiru narrated.
Another witness by the name Ali Isah Bakori said that he saw the devastating brutality metted against Danladi Ya’u by some Nigeria soldiers. “When I got to the scene, I saw about six soldiers at the front of Mr Segun’s house and i also saw Danladi lying down almost lifeless with only boxers on him. Not too long I saw Segun drove out of his house and after a while he came with a taxi and they carried Danladi and dumped him inside the booth of the taxi and drove off.” Ali explained.
When asked, Danladi Ya’u said he only wants justice. “I am aware that there is no provision in Nigeria Constitution that empower soldiers to maltreat unarmed civilian therefore I need justice”.
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