According to the deceased brother, Nazifi Muhammad, he was with Ismail when the incident occurred.
He said, “We entered the house and locked the gate, but the soldier followed us to our house and shot twice. One bullet hit him in the back, and the other hit him on the neck.
“We carried him outside to show the soldiers what happened. At first, they denied it but later they accepted that it was one of them.”
The Director, Army Public Relations, Maj.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, on Wednesday in Abuja confirmed the incident.
Nwachukwu said the troops received a distress call that some hoodlums gathered in the Samaru area of Zaria in large numbers, burning tyres on the road and pelting stones at security personnel.
He said the troops immediately mobilised and arrived at the scene to disperse the mob and enforce the curfew imposed by the state government.
“On arrival at the scene, the hoodlums brazenly attempted to attack the troops, prompting a soldier to fire a warning shot to scare the hoodlums away, which unfortunately led to the death of a 16-year-old boy, Ismail Mohammed.
“The soldier involved has since been arrested and undergoing interrogation as of the time of this report,” he said.
Nwachukwu said the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja was saddened by the unfortunate incident.
He said the COAS had sent a high-powered delegation led by the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Maj.-Gen. Lander Saraso, to visit and condole with the family of the deceased.
According to him, the deceased was buried according to Islamic rites, with senior military officers of the Nigerian army in attendance.
The father of Isma’il, Muhammad Husaini, while crying for justice narrated that he was not at home when the incident occurred but he was called on the phone and then returned home.
Husaini said; ” The children were in front of their shop when the soldiers came for patrol in the neighborhood behind Samaru market. The children then ran inside after they saw the soldiers.
“One of the soldiers pointed his gun at them and said he would shoot. The children then ran inside and locked the door.”
He said even though they had entered the house and locked the door, the soldier shot the door twice and this resulted in Ismai’s death.
He added that the bullet hit him on the neck and back and when the soldier heard him screaming, he left without giving a damn.
The father said he wanted justice for his son as well as compensation.
The late Isma’il Muhammad whose life was cut short at 16 lived in the Samaru area of Zaria Local Government area of Kaduna State, Northwest, Nigeria.
Before his death, he was learning tailoring with his brother, Nazifi Muhammad to support himself.