From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Nigerian Army has constituted a board of inquiry to unravel the circumstances behind the killing of an Army captain by a soldier, who also killed himself in Chibok, Borno State.
Army spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, said the headquarters of the 28 Task Force in the area, where the two Army personnel served before their untimely death on Sunday, established the investigating board to unravel the shooting of the officer by a soldier, a staff sergeant, which led to the officer’s death.
“At about 12.50pm on Sunday, the unit received a report that a staff was seen to be drunk and misbehaving to civilians. An officer was dispatched to the scene with a view to bringing him back to base. The officer did his best but the SNCO refused several entreaties to calm him and be disarmed by the superior officer. Unfortunately, the staff sergeant shot the officer dead and then killed himself,” Usman said in a statement.
He said the board of inquiry was expected to submit its report within a week, describing the incident as a great loss to the Army and the unit where the two personnel served. He said the bodies of the officer and the soldier have been deposited in a military facility.
Residents of Chibok, the Borno town where over 200 schoolgirls were abducted in 2014, said the incident happened barely an hour after the two personnel worshipped in two separatechurches in the town. The soldier was said to have been flogging residents and repeatedly harassing them, which compelled the brigade in the area to dispatch a captain (names withheld) to bring him to order and disarm him.
The incident caused a stir in the serene town through Sunday noon, residents said.