Soldiers in Jos, Nigeria given shoot-to-kill orders after election official is ...

Nigex

18 January 2011

Soldiers in Jos, Nigeria given shoot-to-kill orders after election official is ...

An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that was about to take delivery of voter registration equipment at a registration center in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria was killed by a mob and his body "dragged into the road and burnt to ashes."

The incident is said to have started when a Special Task Force (STF) team escorting staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to St. Philip Academy in Nasarawa, Jos North LGA, were challenged by youths in the Christian-dominated local government area. The youth had previously accused the STF of aiding muslims in their attacks on Christians and this time felt that the STF was escorting Hausa's to their area and they did not want the Hausa's to conduct the voter registration exercise there.

The Plateau State Commissioner of Police said, “The youths started throwing stones at the soldiers on sighting them. They held one of the Hausa Fulani boys the soldiers were escorting. The rampaging youths killed the boy but a soldier opened fire in defense and in the process, one of the youths was killed.”

The STF Commander said, “They started throwing stones at my men just because they saw them escorting INEC ad hoc staff that are Hausa Muslims. This happened in spite of my appeal to all the youths in the state to give peace a chance.”