The people of the Samaru community in the Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State are mourning a 16-year-old boy, Ismail Muhammad, who was allegedly shot dead by soldiers on the first day of the nationwide hunger protest.

It was gathered that the deceased, who was a fashion designer and a Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS 3) student of Government Secondary School Samaru, Zaria, was reportedly shot inside his family’s compound in Samaru, a suburb of Zaria city.

Speaking to Punch on Sunday, the elder brother of the victim, Muhammad Abubakar, recounted the unfortunate incident, he said that Ismail was home and never participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest.

He said: “We were all outside, including some of our neighbors, watching what was happening when we saw a soldier in our area. Everybody ran inside; I was the last person to enter the house and I locked the door.

“After the soldiers left the area, some of our neighbors came knocking at the door.”

“I opened the door, and I saw that he (Ismail) was shot in the throat and in the back, around his spinal cord.

“I carried him and started rushing to the hospital. On our way, I saw two soldiers and while I was telling them they killed my kid brother, some soldiers stationed around the market square came with a Hilux van and nearly hit us but I crossed a gutter and left Ismail’s body there. After then, I don’t know what happened again.

“We’re calling on the government to ensure justice and fairness for Ismail who was brutally killed.”