Wadume: Soldier admits shooting IRT vehicle
A soldier attached to Battalion 93, Takum, Taraba State, Sgt. Ibrahim Muhammed, has narrated how he crashed a bus in which members of the Intelligence Response Team were travelling after apprehending a suspected kidnap kingpin, Bala Hamisu (Wadume), on August 6, 2019.
The 46-year-old member of the infantry regiment stated that he fired a shot at the tyres of the police Toyota Hummer bus causing it to somersault.
Muhammed said he fired the fatal shots after receiving orders from his commander, Capt. Tijjani Balarabe, directing him to stop the policemen “by any means.”
The sergeant with service number, 94NA/38/1750, made the admission in his statement dated, August 16, to the Joint Investigation Panel set up by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, to probe the killing of three policemen and their two civilian assistants by the troops commanded by Balarabe.
He said, “I, Ibrahim Muhammed, wish to state that on August 8 at about 18:20hours, while on duty at under-bridge checkpoint along Ibbi-Wukari road, my OC, Capt. Balarabe, called and told me that there were a suspected kidnappers’ bus moving towards me on their way to Wukari.
“He said they kidnapped Alh. Hamisu (Wadume) and I should make sure I stopped them by any means.
“At that time, I was inside our house and one of my soldiers who was on duty called me and was shouting, ‘Oga, look at the vehicle, they have passed and I stopped them, but they refused to stop.”
Muhammed explained that he stepped out of his house and saw a crowd and a Sharon bus chasing after the police bus, and he joined the chase, adding that the police officers also failed to stop at the next checkpoint.
He noted that they chased the IRT officers to a military checkpoint at Gidan waya where he decided to attack the men.
“Immediately they passed the checkpoint, I decided to engage them by firing at the tyres of the bus until the vehicle somersaulted which made me to cease fire immediately.
“On reaching the vehicle, I came down from my vehicle and went behind the vehicle of the kidnappers, and saw people coming towards me with weapons which made me to withdraw and at the same time, telling them to drop their weapons.
“One of them tried to drop his own and the next thing I heard was gunshots which made me to take cover,” the soldier narrated. Punch
