Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Lance Corporal John Gabriel, a soldier of the Nigerian Army, has described the final moments before he killed Sheik Goni Aisami-Gashua, a well-known Islamic preacher in Yobe.
When questioned if he was about to be killed by the cleric during the police procession of him on Wednesday, Gabriel replied that he wasn’t.
You may recall that Sheikh Aisami was assassinated last Friday evening near Jaji Maji in the Yobe local government of Karasuwa after giving a soldier a ride who later killed him.
The 241 Recce Model Battalion soldier Lance Corporal Gabriel, with registration number N/A13/69/1522, enticed the clergyman out of his automobile using a ploy, then killed him in cold blood.
The attacker was then taken into custody and paraded by the Police.
He explained how the clergyman was deceived and slain during the march.
The soldier claimed that before executing the cleric, the Sheikh inquired as to what his offense was before asking if he wanted to kill him.
He continued by saying that after firing a warning shot, the cleric didn’t flee as he had anticipated, and that’s when the assassin opened fire directly at him, killing him.
“We were nearing Jaji-Maji and the windows were wound down, so I told him (the victim) that I was hearing a sound under his vehicle and he said he was suspecting something under it and he wanted to park and check,” the witness recalled. He parked by the side of the road, got out, and I followed him. He checked and discovered that it wasn’t what he had thought.
While he was under the car, I had taken my rifle out and fixed the magazine. I instructed him to check the rear tire when he couldn’t find anything beneath the car, but as he was about to do so, I brandished my rifle, and he questioned me, “What did I do to you?” You did not do anything to me, I retorted. Do you want to kill me, he pressed. “No, I don’t want to murder you,” I said. He didn’t say anything, so I fired a warning shot in the hopes that he would panic and go. He didn’t, however, flee. However, I opened fire on him as he moved toward his car.
