Amnesty International (AI), a group that works to protect human rights, has asked the Nigerian Federal Government to look into the death of a 14-year-old girl who was hit by a stray gunshot in Maiduguri, Borno State.
According to Channels TV, the event happened on Saturday as the victim was doing chores around the house.
It is not clear where the stray bullet came from, although an unsubstantiated allegation said that members of the Civilian Joint Task Force shot firearms in a nearby complex as part of a celebration during a social gathering.
Amnesty International said in a statement yesterday, “The Nigerian government must look into the careless use of guns by the military that killed a girl in Maiduguri, Borno State.”
On Saturday, April 4, a stray bullet hit a 14-year-old girl in her house and killed her. She was a secondary school student. The statement claimed, “The fatal shot was reportedly fired by military personnel engaged in celebratory gunfire during a wedding ceremony at a nearby event center.”
Amnesty quoted a family member of the victim as saying, “She (the deceased) lived with her family in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) quarters and was inside her home when the tragedy happened.” She had just finished putting henna on her and her mother’s hands and was excitedly getting ready for a family wedding that was going to happen that day.
It went on to say that her funeral was held yesterday morning at the Maiduguri graveyard, and now her family and friends are looking for answers about a death that may have been avoided.
The group asked for an open, fair, and thorough investigation into the event to protect lives and make sure justice is done.
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