A soldier with the Nigerian Army School of Armour in Bauchi has reportedly committed suicide while manning guard at his duty post.

According to Sahara Reporters, the soldier was one of the new combatants recruited in 2020 whose first posting had been the army school in Bauchi.

His military colleagues disclosed that he was on duty when the incident happened.

“He was on duty alongside his colleagues. They were all discussing normal soldier things and suddenly, he pulled out his gun and shot himself in the stomach,” military sources told reporters. 

“We couldn’t even rush him to the hospital as he died on the spot.”

The other soldiers that witnessed the incident had been locked in the guardroom, pending investigation.

His body has been deposited at the mortuary in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.

The incident, sources said, has been communicated to the army headquarters, and a board had been set up in the barracks to investigate the matter.

The army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, was however not immediately available to comment on the incident.

Prior to the incident, there had been other instances where soldiers killed themselves.

In 2017, a soldier committed suicide after killing a captain in Chibok, Borno state.

Another soldier hung himself inside the barracks in Abuja in 2019.

In 2020, a soldier fighting Boko Haram insurgents committed suicide, leaving a note for his wife.