‘Soldiers Said Killing My Son Was A Mistake’ — Father Of Slain NYSC Member ‘Caught In Crossfire’

Sani Jimoh, father of the late Abdulsamad Jamiu, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, who was killed during a military operation of the Guards Brigade Quick Response Force in Shagari Estate, Dei-Dei, Abuja, has disclosed that military operatives admitted that his son’s death was a mistake.

Speaking with reporters during a visit to the family home in Dei-Dei, Jimoh said he and his wife were in Kogi State for his mother’s funeral when they received a distress call from their daughter around 2 am on Saturday.

According to him, military personnel later explained that they were pursuing suspected robbers and believed one of them had entered his compound after noticing damaged barbed wire.

“They said that they were pursuing a thief, but they couldn’t see the thief, so they went through the back and saw that the barbed wire was altered, and they thought someone had jumped through it inside my compound,” he said.

“I asked how they gained entrance into the main house, and they said that it seemed the door was not locked.

“And when you gained access into the main house, they were trying to open the door (Samad’s room), and somebody was there trying to block them from opening the door, and what happened now happened.”

Jimoh said when he questioned how the incident escalated into a fatal shooting inside a locked room, the soldiers admitted it was an error.

“They said that ‘Oga calm down and it was a mistake’,” he added.

The bereaved father also disclosed that the divisional police officer (DPO) of the Dei-Dei Police Division described the incident as an unfortunate and careless error.

According to him, the police requested a written statement and an undertaking before releasing his son’s body for burial.

In a statement earlier issued by the Guards Brigade Headquarters, the Army said Jamiu was caught in a crossfire on Saturday, April 25, 2026, when troops responded to a distress call from residents reportedly under attack by armed robbers.

“Upon arrival, the troops came under gunfire from the fleeing armed robbers, resulting in a brief but intense exchange,” the statement said.

However, during a visit to the family on Monday, relatives of the deceased rejected the military’s account, insisting that physical evidence at the scene contradicted claims of an exchange of gunfire.

The deceased’s sister and an eyewitness, Jamiu Farida, said she woke up to gunshots and was later dragged outside by soldiers.

She alleged that three soldiers asked her to confirm whether a broken window and damaged barbed wire already existed before the incident.

“I pleaded with them that if I get down, they should not harm me,” she said.

“They asked me to come outside, and they took me outside to show me a broken barbed wire that was more damaged than it was before.

“They also showed me a broken window. They asked me whether this window was like that. I said, ‘yes’.”

Farida said she initially thought the soldiers wanted to tell her that her brother had escaped, but later discovered him lying in a pool of blood after they forced open his room.

“I thought they wanted to tell me that my brother escaped. I wanted to go into my brother’s room, but they dragged me, and I struggled with them until I discovered that my brother was dead and part of his brain was beside him on the floor,” she said.

“I was just screaming, and I ran back outside. And one of the soldiers was threatening me and asked me to shut up.”

She further alleged that soldiers invited vigilantes to clean the bloodstains after the incident.

“The soldiers called the vigilantes to clean the blood, and they did. They also packed his brain and buried it in the house close by,” she claimed.

The deceased’s mother, Habiba Abubakar, said she had travelled to Okene before the incident occurred and only learned of the tragedy through a neighbour’s call.

“I was not around; I travelled on Thursday, hoping to come back on Saturday to meet my son at home. Only for me to receive a call from my neighbour around 2:30,” she said.

Habiba maintained that her son was shot after responding to loud banging on his door.

“I don’t know; maybe he woke up from sleep and was trying to find out who was there, and they shot him,” she said.

“They shot the door twice. According to what I saw, they said that after doing that, the soldiers called two vigilantes around the area to come and mop up the blood.

“They entered my kitchen, took detergent and a bucket, and gave the vigilantes instructions to mop the blood.”

Meanwhile, Yusuf Enesi, a close friend of the deceased, described Samad as peaceful and sociable, saying they had spent Friday evening together playing games at a relaxation centre he co-managed.

“We had spent Friday night with Samad. We hung out at a centre; he co-managed a game hub,” Enesi said.

“He played all manner of games, tennis, chess, and snooker, and I think his last game was a tennis game before we left, and I woke up to the call in the early hours of Saturday that he was shot in his room.”

Enesi added that there had been no known violent incidents in the estate until soldiers allegedly began harassing residents in recent weeks.

LEADERSHIP reports that Abdulsamad Jamiu was a serving Corps member in Nasarawa State before the incident in Abuja in the wee hours of Saturday.