Authorities in Adamawa State are facing mounting scrutiny after witnesses alleged that Nigerian Army soldiers opened fire on women protesting the military\u2019s handling of ongoing communal clashes, resulting in nine deaths and several injuries.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred Monday along a major road in Lamurde, where the women had gathered to demand stronger enforcement of a government-imposed curfew following renewed violence between the Bachama and Chobo communities.<\/p>\n
Witnesses and families of the victims told reporters that soldiers opened fire after being blocked from passing, leaving nine women dead and at least ten more wounded. Amnesty International Nigeria said its own verification supported witness accounts, citing testimonies from relatives and locals who were present.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian Army strongly denied responsibility, insisting in a statement that no civilians were killed by its personnel. According to army officials, a local militia was responsible for the shootings, claiming the casualties stemmed from \u201cunprofessional handling\u201d of weapons by the group.<\/p>\n
Local residents, however, rejected that account. Community members said the protesters were unarmed and were demanding that security forces enforce the curfew consistently across affected communities.<\/p>\n
Lawson Ignatius, a local councillor, said the women had become frustrated that clashes continued despite security deployments. \u201cThey felt abandoned. They wanted authorities to act decisively to stop the violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Families of the victims expressed grief and anger. Gyele Kennedy, whose daughter was among those killed, questioned why soldiers would fire at unarmed protesters. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what came over them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press noted that it could not independently verify the sequence of events. Similar incidents involving excessive force by security personnel have been documented in recent years, including the 2020 Lagos protests where a judicial panel described the army\u2019s actions as a massacre.<\/p>\n
Human rights groups have called for a transparent investigation, urging authorities to hold those responsible accountable.<\/p>\n
The shootings come at a time when Nigeria\u2019s security forces are under renewed international scrutiny over their response to both communal conflicts and civilian demonstrations.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities in Adamawa State are facing mounting scrutiny after witnesses alleged that Nigerian Army soldiers opened fire on women protesting the military\u2019s handling of ongoing communal clashes, resulting in nine deaths and several injuries. The incident occurred Monday along a major road in Lamurde, where the women had gathered to demand stronger enforcement of a<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[2422,804,803,1661,2006,1957],"class_list":{"0":"post-14668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social","8":"tag-adamawa","9":"tag-amnesty-international","10":"tag-human-rights","11":"tag-nigeria","12":"tag-protests","13":"tag-security-forces"},"yoast_head":"\n