Family of Slain NYSC Member Abdulsamad Jamiu Rejects Army "Crossfire" Claims, Alleges Extrajudicial Killing in Abuja Residence

Mother of slain NYSC member Abdulsamad Jamiu alleges soldiers shot her son through a door and cleaned the blood, rejecting the Army's crossfire story.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 28, 2026, 3:32 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Daily Post Nigeria

A Mother's Midnight Nightmare

Habiba Abubakar, the mother of the late National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member Abdulsamad Jamiu, has recounted the distressing sequence of events that led to her son's death on April 25. Speaking from her residence in Dei-Dei, Abuja, Abubakar described how she was away for a burial when neighbors alerted her to gunshots near her home at 2:30 a.m. Her initial fear was confirmed when she returned to Abuja to find her son had been killed while her other children struggled to break the news to her during her journey.

Contradicting the Military Narrative

The Nigerian Army, through the Headquarters Guards Brigade, initially reported that Jamiu was a casualty of "crossfire." According to Brigade spokesperson Olawuyi Odunola, troops were responding to a distress call regarding an armed robbery and engaged fleeing suspects in a gun battle. However, the Jamiu family has flatly rejected this version of events. They argue that the evidence at the scene does not support a chaotic exchange of fire, but rather a targeted and misplaced use of lethal force within a private dwelling.

Allegations of a Forced Cleanup and Cover Up

In a disturbing development, Habiba Abubakar alleged that after the shooting, soldiers took measures to sanitize the scene. She claimed that military personnel entered her kitchen, took detergents and a bucket, and ordered local vigilante members to mop up her son's blood. "What happened? Why would they do that?" she queried during an emotional interview. The family asserts that the destruction of forensic evidence immediately after the shooting points to an awareness of wrongdoing by the soldiers involved.