•Militia killed 2 protesting women — Army
By Kingsley Omonobi & Umar Yusuf
The Nigerian Army 23 Brigade, and the people of Bachamas community in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State, have disagreed over the killing of protesting women in Lamurde, during which some others were injured.
While the army denied being responsible for the killings, locals alleged that the protesters were shot by the soldiers drafted to the area to maintain peace and order.
Recall that there have been an on going communal clash between the Bachamas and the Chobos communities in Lamurde.
Locals said that when the Chobos launched an attack on the Bachsmas, a distress call was sent to the military for assistance.
The women went on protest following what the termed nonchallant attitude to their distress call by the military.
The protesters were alleged to have blocked the roads to prevent the soldiers from pursuing the fleeing attackers and in the ensuing confrontation with the soldiers, 10 women were shot dead while many others were injured and are receiving treatments at various hospitals.
But the Army said that neither the Brigade Commander nor his escorts were present at the scene of the communal clash between two communities in Adamawa State, when the alleged incident occurred.
The army said eight gunmen believed to be militia members were neutralised during encounter with troops deployed to quell the communal clashes while gunfire from armed militia of rival community killed two of the protesting women.
Spokesman of 23 Brigade, Captain Olusegun Abidoye, made this known in a statement, yesterday, said: “The attention of Headquarters 23 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to a baseless report by some online media published on December 8, 2025.
“The said report levelled unfounded and false allegations against the Brigade and its Commander.
“Contrary to this allegation, Headquarters 23 Brigade wishes to state that the report is bereft of truth and therefore, entirely misleading.
“It is nothing short of an attempt to smear the image of the Brigade and its Commander and by extension the Nigerian Army.
“It is necessary to inform the general public that neither the Brigade Commander nor his escorts was at the scene of the communal clash as the Brigade Commander was participating virtually in the Chief of Army Staff’s weekly operational brief at the time of the purported shooting by his escorts.
“Headquarters 23 Brigade wishes to set the record straight that combined troops of 23 Brigade Garrison, Nigerian Police Force, NSCDC and DSS received information about the communal clashes between Bachama and Chobo tribes of Lamurde LGA of Adamawa State about 0135 hours of December 8, 2025.
“The communal clash was as a result of the unresolved land disputes and ethnic acrimony between Chobo and Bachama tribes.
“Troops moved swiftly to the affected communities to return normalcy to the affected areas of Tingno, Rigange, Tito, Waduku and Lamurde.
“In the course of its operations, a militia armed group suspected of fighting for one of the warring communities, Chobo, attacked the troops.
“The troops, being a professional, adaptable and combat ready force decisively engaged the militia armed men in the fire fight.
“During the exchange of fire, troops neutralised three of the gunmen and forced other members of the militia group to flee the general area.
“The troops were able to put the clashes under control.
“The troops and other security agencies later exploited the withdrawal route of the militia group, where an additional five neutralised members of the armed men were discovered with a motorcycle. “Furthermore, the troops received a distress call that a warring community had mobilised to attack Lamurde LG’s Secretariat.
“While moving to secure the Secretariat, some women blocked the road to deny troops passage, while armed men suspected to be fighting for Bachama extraction fired indiscriminately within the community.
“Troops then created a passage and proceeded to the council secretariat to secure the area. At this point, no woman was shot or injured.
“Otherwise, troops would not have been allowed to find any passage through the crowd.
“The troops were able to secure the secretariat from the assailant.
“While stationed at the council Lodge, two corpses of women were brought to the Lodge by the people of the community and alleged that they were killed by own troops.
“Without equivocation, the casualties were caused by the unprofessional handling of automatic weapons by the local militias, who are not proficiently trained to handle such automatic weapons.
“Notwithstanding, the Brigade deeply sympathises with the families of the slain women and urges the warring communities to embrace peace to avoid unnecessary loss of lives and destruction of properties.”
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