‘Stray Bullet’ Kills 9-Year-Old In Kaduna During Local Government Election
The little girl was killed by a bullet discharged from a military personnel in an effort to disperse a crowd during the ongoing local government elections.
A nine-year-old girl, Zainab Bala-Umar on Saturday, Sept. 9 was killed after she was hit by a bullet allegedly fired by a soldier at Gwanki Ward, Makarfi Local Government of Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria.
The incident happened during the conduct of the local government election in the state. According to Daily Trust, Yahaya Gwanki, an eye witness, disclosed that the little girl was hit by a stray bullet when a soldier attempted to disperse a crowd at Gwanki Ward.
The report said a former chairman of Makarfi Local Government Chairman who is also the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election invited soldiers to the polling unit.
“The APC candidate, Alhaji Kabir Maiyere had gone to one of the polling units under Fadamar Gwanki and while having a conversation with an electoral officer over some challenges of the e-voting machine, some youths had to start to shout, ‘ba ma so, ba ma so” meaning “we don’t want,” Yahaya Gwanki said. “Maiyere then invited soldiers who shot in the air and in the process, the girl was hit and died,” Gwanki said.
On Friday, HumAngle reported that elections were suspended in four Local Government Areas by the states’ electoral body, citing insecurity challenges. The Chairman of the electoral body had also assured that it had made every necessary arrangements to ensure that elections across the remaining Local Government Areas were safe and hitch free.
Mohammed Jalige, the Police Public Relations Officer, Kaduna State Command, when asked about the incident said that military personnel were not allowed to be at the polling units. He however assured that the police would arrest the culprit, investigate the matter and brief the press.
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