There is tension in Jos over the killing of 25-year-old Sam’an Mohammed Umar by men of Plateau Special Task Force (STF) as parents of the deceased have refused to claim his remains from STF’s custody.
Sam’an, a resident of Anguwan Keke area in Nasarawa community in Jos metropolis, was shot dead on Monday after he was arrested by STF personnel.
The STF had claimed Sam’an had been terrorising Anguwan Keke area.
But father of the deceased Alhaji Muhammadu Umar popularly known as Mai Sabongida insisted his son was unjustly arrested, tortured and killed by STF men and vowed not to collect the remains until financial settlement is made.
Mai Sabongida said the Sector Two Commander of the STF had confirmed to him that STF’s officers made a mistake by shooting his son to death.
He said “another female officer at the sector command told us that they had mistaken my son for another youth known as ‘Bright.’ When we met the sector commander, he was very disturbed by the incident and apologized to us telling us that he will set up a committee to investigate the killing.
“But what we are saying is that we want to know the officer who shot him, we also want the STF to pay us diyya (compensation) on the life of my son because this is not the first time soldiers are killing youths in our area.”
He also said “there are several witnesses who can attest that STF men handcuffed my son to the back and stripped him off except for his short and beat him up from Congo Junction.”
STF spokesperson Captain Salisu Mustapha said, “a few days ago he (Sam’an) stabbed someone. The STF tried to arrest him on Monday morning but he resisted arrest and when an officer chased him, he brought out a dagger and tried to stab him. The officer was actually aiming at his thigh but unfortunately he was hit at his lower abdomen.”
But father of the deceased denied that his son had attempted to stab an officer, arguing that “how can a man that was handcuffed to the back bring out a knife and stab you? If my son had stabbed another person a few days ago, then where is the person? They should bring him out. What law says the STF should kill a person arrested?”.
Sources from the Air Force Hospital, where the Sam’an’s remains are still lying, told Daily Trust that the corpse was earlier rejected when the officers who brought him refused to sign a register for depositors of the body, saying it was late evening when a senior officer of the STF agreed to sign.
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