Ibadan Residents In Fear Over Reckless Shooting By Nigerian Soldiers

According to reports, there seem to be a perpetual fear among the residents of areas close to 2 Division, Nigeria Army at Odogbo in Ibadan, Oyo State, following a reckless shooting exercise by the solders of the 2 Division Nigerian Army, of the state.

Residents in the areas reported that stray bullets have been coming from the shooting range into their houses following the resumption of shooting exercises at the barracks.

In a report by the Punch news which The Nigerian Voice correspondent sighted, some of the residents said the shootings resumed early Monday morning and bullets had been straying into buildings causing damage to their roofs and other property.

A resident identified as Alhaji Kazeem Ijeru said some bullets strayed from the shooting range into his building and perforated his roof on Tuesday.

In his words, “Soldiers have started shooting at Odogbo Barracks again and we are living in fear now. They started around 7am on Monday and bullets have been straying into houses on our street.

“Fresh damage was done to my roof by some bullets today. How long are we supposed to be saying the same thing, the same complaint for many years and nobody is doing anything about our plight.

“Each time they organise their shooting exercise, they cause us to fear and destroy our property. Are we the terrorists or bandits they are training to face? It is not fear.”

Another resident who identified himself as Taye Omolaja, noted he has been planning to sell his house without waiting for serious buyers because of the shooting problem.

“They stopped after the reports in the media about three weeks ago but they started another round of shooting on Monday. The shooting continued on Tuesday and we don’t know how long we will live in fear this time around,” he said.

“The state government is also pretending not to be aware of our plight. Maybe they are waiting for a huge number of people to be killed before they would come for a condolence visit. God won’t hand over our lives to them. They don’t see us as people whose lives count and that is unfortunate.”

At the press time, authorities at the 2 Division of Nigeria Army, were yet to react to the development, even when newsmen contacted the officer in charge of information for the division.