The headquarters of the 23 Brigade of the Nigerian Army Yola, has dismissed reports by online media alleging that women protesters were shot by troops under the Brigade Commander’s escort during communal clashes in Lamurde Local Government Area, Adamawa State.
Captain Olusegun Abidoye, Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations in a statement issued Tuesday, described the reports as “baseless, entirely misleading, and an attempt to smear the image of the Brigade and its Commander.”
The statement clarified that neither the Brigade Commander nor his escorts were present at the scene, as the Commander was participating virtually in the Chief of Army Staff’s weekly operational briefing at the time.
The clashes reportedly arose from unresolved land disputes and longstanding ethnic tensions.
The Nigerian Army urged the public to disregard the reports as malicious and unfounded.
According to the statement, combined forces of the 23 Brigade Garrison, Nigerian Police Force, NSCDC, and DSS responded to clashes between the Bachama and Chobo communities in Tingno, Rigange, Tito, Waduku, and Lamurde, which erupted around 1:30 a.m. on Monday.
The statement reads in part: “During operations, the troops encountered armed militia members suspected to be aligned with the Chobo community. In the ensuing exchange of fire, three gunmen were neutralized, while others fled. A subsequent search along the militia’s withdrawal route led to the discovery of an additional five armed men and a motorcycle”.
The Brigade explained that while troops were moving to secure the Lamurde Local Government Secretariat, women blocked the road to prevent passage, and armed men allegedly aligned with the Bachama fired indiscriminately.
Troops cleared a path without harming any women and successfully secured the Secretariat.
Two women were later brought to the Local Government Lodge by community members, who alleged they had been killed by troops.
The Brigade maintained that the fatalities were caused by mishandling of automatic weapons by local militias, not by military personnel.
It also reaffirmed the Brigade’s commitment to supporting civil authorities and maintaining security in its area of responsibility.
The statement while extending condolences to the families of the deceased and urged both communities to embrace peace to prevent further loss of life and property.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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