Stray bullets from the shooting range of the 2 Division Nigeria Army Odogbo in Ibadan have reportedly hit two persons in Arulogun community close to the barracks.
DAILY GIST gathered that the incident happened on Friday.
Residents said the two victims- a child and an adult who they identified as Ajeri were immediately rushed to the clinic at the barracks for treatment.
One of the residents, Toyin Abidoye, told reporters that there was panic among residents even before the bullets hit the two victims because the bullets were coming in large numbers.
Abidoge said, ” We have been going through this for some years now. What they do is when there is much noise like this, they will stop for a while and resume later.
“They have been doing that but it was terrible today and two persons were hit. It is not fair at all. They have refused to stop despite our appeals and protests. They don’t have regard for our lives at all.”
Eyewitnesses disclosed that residential buildings, churches, and mosques were not spared by bullets from the soldiers thereby making worshippers, as well as residents, live in perpetual fear.
The General Overseer of The Way of Solution Apostolic Church International, Pastor Segun Jesubunmi, revealed that some bullets hit his church about three weeks ago.
He said, ” We have been living with this problem for a long time now. We are just hoping that things will change but we are yet to see the desired change.
” I was told the army authorities erected barriers to prevent bullets from coming out anytime there is a shooting exercise but we still have that problem.
” I am just planning to mend the holes created in the roof of our church by their bullets now. At times, when they damage our buildings, we would wait for weeks to be sure that they had stopped shooting before we repair the damage. If you rush to repair it, and the shooting continues the following day, the thing you repaired may be damaged again.”
The Public Affairs Officer, 2 Division Nigeria Army, Lt. Col. Charles Ekeocha, could not be reached on the phone at the time of filing this report.
