The Nigerian Army says it has instituted investigations into the incident of a soldier, who killed his colleagues and himself at Forward Operations Base (FOB) Rabbah, Sokoto State.
Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General, Onyema Nwachukwu in a statement on Monday described the incident as “unfortunate”.
According to him, “the sad and rare incident” occured in the evening of Sunday 5 March 2023 at the FOB, where troops were deployed for Internal Security Operations.
Nwachukwu said the circumstances leading to the incident could not be immediately ascertained, as the soldier who killed his colleagues also shot himself , terminating his own life.
He however noted that,
“The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 Division Nigerian Army, who also doubles as the Commander Joint Task Force Northwest Operation Hadarin Daji Major General Godwin Mutkut and other senior officers have visited the location, where he commiserated with troops for loosing their colleagues in such an unfortunate situation.
“He urged them to be their brother’s keepers and report any anomaly observed amongst their colleagues in order to forestall such incidents.
” He also encouraged them to remain calm and committed in the discharge of their duties.”
Nwachukwu said a board of inquiry have been instituted to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“The authorities of the Nigerian Army are deeply concerned about this unusual and ugly development and have therefore instituted a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.
” It is envisaged that the findings of the BOI will help forestall such ugly and bizarre occurrence in the future.”
