A Nigerian soldier has reportedly shot dead a nursing mother and her baby after he injured a commercial motorcyclist popularly known as Okada rider over a N200 bribe in Babanna community in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
According to reports, the victims were returning home from the Babanna weekly market on Monday evening when the tragic incident happened.
The soldier involved was said to have stopped the Okada rider for a bribe of N200, which they usually collect from motorcycle riders, but the man could not respond positively.
A resident, Saidu Babanna, who shared details of the incident, told newsmen that because the Okada man could not pay the money, an argument ensued between him and the soldier, which led to the shooting.
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“One of the soldiers deployed in Babanna to protect lives and property shot three people because of a N200 bribe. When the victims were entering Babanna in the morning, soldiers collected N200 from them at their checking point, and when they were returning from Babanna to Nigangi in Benin Republic, the soldiers demanded another N200 from them, which they couldn’t afford to pay. That led the soldier to open fire and kill the three people on a motorcycle on the spot”
Another resident who pleaded anonymity told reporters that many soldiers at the Benin Republic border always stopped them and collected N200 from them.
He explained further that when the victims were returning from the Market, the same soldiers stopped them again and demanded N200 which the Okada man refused to give.
The Chairman of Borgu Local Government Area of the State, Alhaji Suleiman Yarima confirmed the incident, saying the woman and her baby died but that the motorcyclist survived and he was receiving treatment at a hospital in Parakou in Benin Republic.
Meanwhile, the Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, has not offered an official reaction to the incident.