Curfew begins at 10 pm in crisis-ridden Mangu in Plateau, but soldiers decided on 9.20 pm on Friday, and Sadik Karafa met his own death in the hands of those assigned to keep the peace.
When his brothers got news of soldier beating Karafa, one of them went to the checkpoint along Faringada to identify the cabman as their brother.
But the soldiers attached to Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), a multi-security taskforce, refused to listen to him that night.
They kept manhandling the driver.
According to Abdullahi Karafa, an elder brother of the late driver, the soldiers eventually killed his brother.
“My bother [sent] returned home that very Friday night and we all decided that we will visit the checkpoint in the morning since it was already 10 pm. On the morning of Saturday, we went to the Faringada checkpoint and saw that he was already dead,” he said.
“We then took the corpse to the Katako police station to report about the incident. There was no explanation as to why he was severely beaten to death.”
The elder Karafa said the General Officer Commanding 3 division has visited the family to console and promised to ensure justice.
“We will not leave this to free. We are demanding justice,” the GOC vowed.
Contacted the spokesperson of the OPSH, Ishaku Takwa, was not aware yet, and the task force has yet to respond officially.