No fewer than five youths have been shot dead by soldiers of the Nigerian Army in Baka village in the Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State.

According to Daily Post, the youths, who were attending a wedding were riding motorcycles, but the soldiers opened fire on them early on Friday, on the suspicion that they were kidnappers.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers did not interrogate them before opening fire on the youths on motorcycles.

The remains of the youths have been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre in Jalingo.

The soldiers, who were in the community to check the activities of hoodlums terrorising the state, were said to have mistaken the youths for kidnappers.

Some of the tearful parents lamented that the soldiers opened fire on the youths on sighting them on motorcycles instead of arresting them.

One of the parents, who gave his name as Bello Aliyu Jen, said he lost two sons among the five youths killed by the soldiers.

He gave the names of his deceased sons as Abdulkadir Bello, 27 and Tukur Bello, 20. According to him, Abdulkadir was a final-year student of the College of Agriculture, Jalingo.

He called on the government to do the needful by bringing the soldiers to justice, adding that his dream had been shattered.

According to him, his sons who had been working round the clock to put smiles on his face are “no more”.

The Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Harman Adama, who was also sighted on the hospital premises, said two of his first cousins were among the five youths that were gunned down by the soldiers.

The lawmaker who observed that the incident occurred in the night urged parents and guardians to prevent their children and wards from going out late at night.

According to him, the soldiers who have been given presidential directives to flush out hoodlums from the state and the country at large have said their actions were not intentional.