Beyond the Crossfire: Family Disputes Army Narrative as Slain Abuja Corps Member is Buried

ABUJA – The quiet of Shagari Quarters in Dei-Dei was shattered in the early hours of April 25, leaving a family in mourning and a community in shock. Abdulsamad Jamiu, a 24-year-old civil engineering graduate and serving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, was killed in his bedroom by soldiers under circumstances that have now ignited a fierce dispute between his family and the Nigerian Army.

​A Violent Intrusion

​According to family accounts, the tragedy unfolded around 2 a.m. while Jamiu’s parents were away in Kogi State. His younger sister, Faridah, recounted being jolted awake by a loud noise upstairs. Upon descending, she was met by three armed men in military uniform who allegedly restrained her and flashed lights in her eyes.

​”I perceived the smell of gunpowder and kept asking for my brother,” Faridah told reporters. She alleged that while she was being held outside, the soldiers pointed to a bent section of the perimeter fence, claiming they were chasing a suspect. However, when she finally forced her way into her brother’s room, she found a gruesome scene: Jamiu had been shot in the head through his bedroom door.

​Contradicting Narratives

​The Nigerian Army, through the Headquarters Guards Brigade, initially released a statement claiming Jamiu was a victim of “crossfire” during a gun battle with fleeing armed robbers.

​However, the physical evidence at the scene—including a bullet hole centered in the bedroom door and bloodstains deep inside the house—has led the family to label the official report a “dangerous cover-up.”

​”How did you jump through my fence, enter my house, go straight to my son’s room and shoot him?” questioned Sani Jamiu, the deceased’s father. He argued that the precision of the shooting suggested a targeted action rather than a stray bullet from a street-level skirmish.

​The Investigation Begins

​Public outcry and the family’s insistence on justice prompted a high-level military visit on Monday. A delegation led by Brigadier General S.O. Buhari visited the residence to offer condolences and promised a thorough investigation.

​During a follow-up visit, military police reportedly brought the involved soldiers back to the scene for questioning. In a disturbing twist, local vigilantes allegedly confessed to military investigators that they had been instructed to clean the bloodstains and had even buried fragments of the deceased’s skull behind the compound’s fence.

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​A Dream Cut Short

​Abdulsamad Jamiu was a graduate of the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna and was set to complete his mandatory NYSC service next month. Ironically, his father revealed that Abdulsamad had intended to join the military through the Direct Short Service Commission (DSSC) upon graduation.

​The NYSC management has condemned the killing, describing it as “deeply regrettable,” and has vowed to follow the investigation closely. For the Jamiu family, the priority remains a full retraction of the “crossfire” narrative and the prosecution of those who pulled the trigger.

​As the military probe continues, the statement claiming a robbery encounter remains on the Nigerian Army’s social media pages, a digital reminder of the gap between official accounts and a family’s grief.