by Oke Efagene

A 22-year-old student, identified as Umar Ali Dodo, of Hassan Usman Katsina Polythecnic in Katsina, was shot dead yesterday by military personnel during a routine stop-and-search mission.

It was gathered that the deceased and other passengers were in a vehicle, on their way to Minna in Niger State, when he was killed by one of the soldiers.

However, an eyewitness who spoke to newsmen said the incident occurred when the vehicle conveying the murdered student attempted to overtake a truck.

According to a Leadership report:

“The driver, obviously, was trying to overtake a truck when the soldier who had mounted a road block flagged him down. Before we noticed what was happening, we heard gunshots, only to be told later that one of the passengers was shot.”

Confirming the incident to our correspondent on phone, wthe spokesman of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Lt Col Ihedia Iweha said the soldiers at the road-block asked the driver to stop but “he evaded them in a suspicious manner, prompting a reaction from the troop”.

Iweha also confirmed that a shot was fired which eventually stopped the vehicle, noting that “unfortunately, one person was lost in the vehicle” and added that the vehicle had been impounded to aide for further investigations.