An army officer yesterday led some soldiers to the Karkasara quarters in Tarauni local government area of Kano State and beat up a welder for disturbing the mother of a lady said to be his girlfriend with his welding business.
A soldier from Bukavu Barracks in Kano led about five soldiers to the area yesterday afternoon and subjected the welder to beatings, frog jump and dragging him in a gutter for disturbing the mother of his girlfriend with the sound of his welding machine.
Narrating his predicament, Bilya Salisu, 26 said for the past one year he has been doing his welding business at that spot after completing his apprentice training, saying since then he has been living peacefully with the people around until yesterday when his neighbor Hajia Suwaiba complained to him that the sound of his welding machine is disturbing her in her house.
He said, “When she made that complaint I tried to minimize the sound of the engine to please her and even asked her if the sound was okay and she answered in affirmation. But as I continued to do my work, she came back again and said since I have insisted in continuing with my work, she would teach me a lesson. I did not utter a word to her threats and instead of her to go, she seized my phone and threatened to teach me lesson again,” he said.
He added, “I continued with my work yesterday until when it was time for afternoon prayers that I off the engine and went to perform ablution. I was doing the ablution when I just saw the soldiers who came in a vehicle and started beating me. They also subjected all sorts of punishment forcing me to do frog jumps and that not enough; they dragged me in a gutter, tramping my head. One of them threatened to kill me if he sees me again on that spot doing my welding business.”
Salisu said when the soldiers came they were together with Suwaibah’s daughter called Maryam a university student who is said to be a girl friend to the soldier. They left after vandalizing his equipments and warning him to vacate the place or be killed.
Daily Trust observed that where Salisu is conducting his business is not very close to the house of the complainer, because while the place is behind a house on the main road, it is on an opposite line away from the complainer’s house.
Responding to the allegation, the soldier’s girlfriend said she had decided to tell her boyfriend because when her mother spoke to Salisu about his engine, he laughed at her. “When my mother talked to him he decided to laugh at her and I felt he was disrespectful that was why I decided to tell my fiancé who is an army officer and when he came he made him to do frog jump and asked him to go in that posture to apologize to my mother which he did,” she said.
Efforts made to hear from the army public relations officer while filing the story failed as he could not answer phone call and could not reply text message sent to him.
