(http://www.theinfostride.com/images/resized/images/stories/crisis/Resized/jtf%20500_280_212_46x35.gif) Men of the Joint Task Force opened fire at some cars passing through a checkpoint at Dorayi Sabon Titi area outside Kano city on Sunday night, killing two women and injuring two other people, witnesses and relations of the deceased said.
The incident happened at about 7.30pm as vehicles queued up for a stop-and-search being conducted by a JTF team of military and police personnel about 3 kilometres from the city, survivor of the shooting Muhammad Lawal told Daily Trust in Kano yesterday. Lawal said he was hit by a bullet in the hand and that his 20-year-old elder sister Aisha, who was in the car with him, was shot dead.
Witnesses also said security officials were seen evacuating the body of a yet-to-be-identified elderly woman killed in the shooting.
The other injured person was also a woman.
Narrating how the incident happened, Lawal said he was driving back home in the company of some family members from a visit to another area called Zawaciki when men of the task force flagged down their vehicles.
But at this point a taxi driver who had been stopped earlier lost patience and tried to drive away. The security men suddenly opened fire at the taxicab and at other vehicles behind it.
Lawal said he and his sister were hit during the indiscriminate shooting.
"They had ordered him and his passengers to alight from the taxicab for a search. But after standing outside the car for some time without being attended to, the driver asked the passengers to get back into the car and they zoomed off. That is when they (security men) opened fire at us," Lawal said.
He said one of the soldiers aimed at the taxicab which had six passengers and opened fire, before turning to the vehicles behind the cab to continue with the shooting. That was the point at which his sister was shot, he added.
"When we realised that she was hit by bullet, we rushed her to the hospital, but she died even before a scan could be ran on her," Lawal said.
The late Aisha was buried yesterday morning, her relations told Daily Trust.
Her father Alhaji Lawal Muhammad, who is the Director of Personnel Management of Miga Local Government Area in Jigawa State, said her wedding was billed for the end of this month.
He said the police authorities called him after the shooting, indicating their willingness to investigate the incident.
Yesterday, the Army Public Relations Officer for 3 Brigade Kano, Lieutenant Ikedichi Iweha, denied soldiers' involvement in the shooting.
But the Police Public Relations Officer in Kano, ASP Musa Magaji Majia, told our correspondent that the state commissioner of police has ordered an investigation into the matter.
"The commissioner of police has directed for full investigation to fish out the culprits, so that they can be appropriately punished," he said.
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Daily Trust