Thursday, October 2, 2025 - Stray bullets mistakenly hit three students, k!lling one during a gun battle between troops of Operation Whirl Stroke and bandits in Jato-Aka, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.
The incident occurred at
about 3:20pm on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 p.m. while soldiers were returning
from a routine patrol in the area.
According to security analyst
Zagazola Makama, trouble started when the patrol team sighted some suspected
bandits on a motorcycle carrying firearms.
On sighting the troops, the
hoodlums opened fire. The soldiers immediately engaged them in a gun
duel.
In the exchange of fire, one
of the hoodlums was shot d3ad, while others escaped, abandoning their
motorcycle.
Unfortunately, three students
of ATM Divine Academy Science and Technical Secondary School, Jato-Aka, who
were closing from school at the time, were hit by stray bullets.
One female student identified
as Songo Gloria, was later confirmed d3ad by a doctor at NKST Hospital,
Jato-Aka, while the other two were admitted and are responding to treatment.
The corpse of the neutralised
bandit was also deposited at the NKST Hospital Mortuary.
A military source confirmed
the incident, stressing that the troops only acted in self-defence after being
fired upon by the armed hoodlums.
He described the death of the
student as an unfortunate accident, assuring that efforts would be made to
prevent a repeat of such incidents.
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