Sixteen men who were reportedly arrested by Nigerian soldiers in Yobe state have been found dead with bullet wounds, community leaders’ reports.
Speaking with newsmen on Thursday, November 6, 2014, the community leaders reported that military troops rounded up about seventeen people, including an imam, as they were coming out of the mosque after morning prayers on Wednesday, November 6, 2014 around the Dogo Tebo area of Potiskum in Yobe state.
Staff of the Potiskum General Hospital have aslo confirmed the incident as they said the bodies of all but the imam were later found in the morgue.
“All the bodies have gunshot wounds on them,” a nurse who pleaded to remain anonymous according to AFP.
She said that the bodies were brought in by soldiers and community leaders as residents came to identify the bodies.
According to another resident, Tukur Danu, the cleric was not seen among the dead bodies but the community is worried about what they could have done to him.
Potiskum is a neighboring community which shares boundary with part of Borno and Adamawa state, and as such, been under emergency rule since Borno attack in 2013.
Not less than 15 people were killed on Monday, November 3, 2014 in Potiskum in a suicide bombing targeting a major Shia Muslim festival.
Community leaders who believed that the 16 men were picked up and killed in coonection to Boko Haram insurgency are thereby demanding a probe of the soldiers.
“We demand a probe into this unjustifiable murder,”an unidentified community member said
“We believe they were killed on suspicion of being Boko Haram because they were Kanuris,” he added
Another leader suggested that all the seized 16 men were related either by blood or marriage.
“The government should look into this cold-blooded murder and ensure justice is done because being a soldier is not a license to kill at will on mere suspicion.
“Our fear is we don’t know what they will do next,” he added as he claimed that three more people were arrested in the same area on Wednesday, November 5, 2014.
