Army Says Soldier Shot Dead At Abeokuta Army Barracks, Is A Victim of Accidental Gun Discharge

The army says the soldier who died from gunshots at its 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala in Abeokuta, and the Ogun state capital, was a victim of accidental discharge.

The Army says the soldier did not kill himself, but mishandled the firearms allocated to him, when he was deployed along with his colleagues for the daily cantonment duty.

The Army 81 division in a statement on Wednesday, also refuted reports that the soldier, Boyi Thankgod, shot himself dead, to protest the non-payment of his ration cash allowance.

The Army division spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Olabisi Ayeni, explained that the soldier on the fateful day was fed in line with the standard for troops on duty.

According to him, colleagues who heard the gunshots rushed to where the soldier was standing and found him in his pool of blood.

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Colonel Ayeni said further investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the death.

Meanwhile, he said that the body of the soldier had been deposited at the morgue of Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, while the brigade commander had notified the families of the soldier while condoling them.

The incident truly happened. Since yesterday, the military police have been investigating… all soldiers that were there when the incident happened, they were taken to the custody, took their statements and all the normal procedures.

The brigade command’s Spokesman, Mohammed Goni, could not be reached for comment, as of the time of filing the report.

The Spokesman of the Police Command, Omolola Odutola, has also not responded to enquiry from our correspondent.