The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, says it has arrested its airmen allegedly involved in the killing of a student and a widowed mother of seven at Mabera area in Sokoto State.

PRNigeria gathered that the service was disturbed by the alleged killing of the civilians on October 20 as reported by DAILY NIGERIAN.

The arrest of the NAF personnel was confirmed in a tweet by the spokesperson of the Nigerian Air Force, Ibikunle Daramola, an air-commodore.

“Following the HQ NAF directives, the airmen involved in the fracas have been placed on close arrest pending the outcome of the investigation,” Mr Daramola wrote

The NAF reiterated its zero tolerance for violence against civilians, hence it would not condone acts of ‘brutality, harassment and inhumanity’ meted out to ordinary and harmless persons by its officers and men.

Similarly, in a recent statement, Mr Daramola said: “It is pertinent to reiterate that the NAF is a highly disciplined and professional force that does not tolerate or condone acts of indiscipline or violations of human rights of citizens. Therefore, every NAF personnel found guilty of misdemeanor, in the past, had always been dealt with in accordance extant laws and the general public duly informed.”

NAF is currently investigating the matter with a view to ascertaining the facts as well as establishing the degree of involvement of its personnel.

How it all began

Witnesses said the crisis began when a lady, said to be the girlfriend of an officer, was taunted by youths in the Mabera neighborhood.

Provoked by the youths’ behaviour, the lady reported the matter to her officer boyfriend, who deployed a truckload of air craftsmen to deal with the culprits.

DAILY NIGERIAN gathered the soldiers trailed a student, Abdulsalam Lawan, who fled the siege to a nearby house, killing him and a 40-year-old mother of seven, Maryam Abdulrahman.

“They often come and brutalise us in this area. We were at a tea joint when they came last night around 8:30pm. They started by shooting sporadically and then asked the soldier’s girlfriend to point at those who taunted her.

“When she failed to identify the real culprits, they meted out frog jump punishment on us. Those who ran away were shot.

“At least five people sustained gunshot injuries while two people died,” a witness Sani Mabera told DAILY NIGERIAN.

The bodies of the victims have been deposited at Specialist Hospital, Sokoto for autopsy.