Soldiers on Friday night allegedly pummelled a taxi driver, Sadik Abdullahi Karafa, to death in Jos, Plateau State capital.
Eyewitnesses said the deceased was beaten blue-black by soldiers attached to Operation Safe Haven, a multi-security task force, stationed at Paringada Market on his way back from Mangu before the curfew hour.
DAILY TRUST reports that the curfew is from 10pm to 6am but Sadik was allegedly returning around 9:20pm when he was flagged down
An elder brother of the cabbie, Abdullahi Karafa, recounted his last moment.
He said: “We were at home when a call came in from a mutual friend that our brother was arrested and being beaten by soldiers along Faringada road. On hearing that, one of my younger brothers, Umar Abdullahi, quickly went to the scene and saw the soldiers were beating him.
“When he told them that Sadik was his brother, they ignored him and put him inside their Hilux. My brother returned home that very Friday night and we all decided that we will visit the checkpoint in the morning since it was already 10 pm. On the morning of Saturday, we went to the Faringada checkpoint and saw that he was already dead.
“We then took the corpse to the Katako police station to report about the incident. There was no explanation as to why he was severely beaten to death. The General Officer Commanding 3 division has visited the family to console and promised to ensure justice. We will not leave this to free. We are demanding justice,” he added.
When contacted, the task force spokespersons, Ishaku Takwa, averred that he as not been fully briefed but promised to find out.
As of the time of going to press, he has yet to give a clear idea of what went down.
