By Stephen Ojo
Four soldiers have been dismissed by the Military authorities for stabbing to death an operative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA) in Bida area of Niger state.
The soldiers were said to have been dismissed according to the authorities after they were found guilty by a court martial for committing culpable homicide before they dismissed from the Army and handed over to the police for prosecution.
It was learnt that during painstaking investigation into the case in collaboration with 18 Brigade, Nigeria Army Bida, six soldiers were later identified, court martialed and dismissed, while two escaped.
The Police Public Relations Officer PPRO of the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun confirmed this in a statement in Minna on Friday.
According to him, “On 09/03/2024 at about 1820hrs, a team of NDLEA officers were on stop and search at Ramat Junction, Bida while two suspected soldiers who were not on uniform, on a motorcycle got to the point and they were intercepted by the NDLEA team”.
SP Abiodun explained that the team requested for identification, but the suspected soldiers could not establish a proper means of identification, and their bag was searched but nothing incriminating was found.
“In the course of this, there was an argument and altercation, and after the search, the suspected soldiers left the scene and returned with an additional men reinforced to the scene for an alleged attack”.
.
“Unfortunately during the fight, an officer of the NDLEA named Kingsley Chimetalo was stabbed at the back with a Jack-knife by one of the suspects and his rifle was taken away”, he said.
According to him, the injured officer was taken to FMC Bida where he later gave up the ghost and confirmed dead.
He said that in the course of the investigation by the Police operatives attached to ‘A’ Division Bida, the officer’s rifle was later recovered in a nearby bush where it was dumped without a magazine.
The PPRO named the suspects to include Sani Munzani, Abubakar Auwalu, Abubakar Sani
and Muazu Hassan adding that all suspects are under investigation in SCID Minna and will be charged to court for prosecution as soon as investigation is concluded.