Bwatiye people, Army disagree over shooting of protesting women in Adamawa
Tension has continued to rise in Adamawa State following conflicting accounts from the Pene Da Bwatiye Development Association (PDBDA) and the Nigerian Army over the alleged killing of women during a peaceful protest in Lamurde LGA.
In a strongly worded statement, the PDBDA accused troops deployed to the area of “slaughtering” twelve unarmed women who had gathered to demand security intervention in the wake of recurring communal violence affecting Rigangun, Waduku and surrounding communities.
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Signed by the association’s General Secretary, Emmanuel Pwakavi Bapatu, the statement described the incident as “a grotesque and unforgivable atrocity” and “a massacre.”
According to the association, the women who they said carried only leaves as a symbol of peace were protesting the military’s late arrival following renewed clashes between Bachama and Chobo communities.
The PDBDA claimed the women posed no threat, insisting they sang peace songs and stood far from any conflict zone when soldiers opened fire.
“This was not an act of war; it was a massacre,” the group declared. It condemned the troops’ actions as “a criminal dereliction of duty,” comparing the alleged killings to past military operations that had harmed civilians in the region.
The Bwatiye association listed a set of “non-negotiable demands,” including the immediate suspension and prosecution of the soldiers allegedly involved, the establishment of an independent judicial panel of inquiry, comprehensive reparations to the victims’ families, and the redeployment of the current military formation from the area.
The group demanded action within 72 hours from President Bola Tinubu, the Adamawa State Government, and the Chief of Defence Staff, arguing that their community’s patience has been “murdered alongside our women.”
However, the Nigerian Army issued a counter-statement rejecting the allegations as “baseless, unfounded and misleading.” In the release signed by Captain Olusegun Abidoye, Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, the 23 Brigade insisted that neither the Brigade Commander nor his escorts were present at the location of the purported shooting and could not have been responsible.
The Army explained that troops were deployed in the early hours of 8 December following reports of renewed hostilities rooted in longstanding land disputes between Bachama and Chobo communities.
Officers from the Army, police, DSS, and NSCDC reportedly moved to restore order in Tingno, Rigange, Tito, Waduku and Lamurde.
According to the military’s account, troops were attacked by an armed militia aligned with one of the warring communities, leading to an exchange of fire during which several gunmen were neutralized.
While moving to forestall an alleged attempt to attack the Lamurde Local Government Secretariat, troops encountered women blocking the road.
The Army acknowledged that two corpses of women were later brought before security operatives by community members, but it maintained that the deaths occurred as a result of “unprofessional handling of automatic weapons by local militias,” not military gunfire.
“No woman was shot or injured by troops,” the statement stressed, arguing that soldiers had been able to pass through the crowd, which would not have been possible if the troops had opened fire.
While expressing sympathy to the families of the deceased, the Army urged both communities to embrace peace and warned the public to disregard what it described as a smear campaign against the Brigade and its Commander.
