Officers of the Nigerian Army have killed 29-year-old Oyegwu Anasala, an Edo State resident, and three yet-to-be-identified youths for protesting extortion by chiefs of the Afo-Okpella community, Okpella, Edo State.

Princess Natasha, a cousin of the late Anasala, told FIJ how he was shot on Monday during a protest organised by youths in the community against their chiefs, the BUA Cement company and Dangote Cement.

Natasha said the young people were only protesting in the community against chiefs taking a cut of 40 percent from their monthly salaries.

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“On Monday, there was a protest by the youths of the Afo-Okpella, Okpella community. They were complaining about how community chiefs take N30,000 out of the monthly N80,000 paid by BUA Cement,” Natasha told FIJ.

“While the protest was ongoing, something escalated it and the soldiers began to chase people into the village and also pick up young men.

“Someone pointed Anasala out as one of the factory workers and they shot him in the thigh. He had only started working at the factory last year and needed money to complete his schooling at Auchi Polytechnic.”

Natasha noted that Monday was not the first time the chiefs would invite soldiers to attack the Afo-Okpella youths.

“The youths had once kicked against the extortion by the chiefs and then staged a protest. The soldiers came in and shot them. They said nobody knew about their protest,” said Natasha.

Saw my cousin (red jacket, yellow cap) in the village (Okpella, edo state) this past week when I went for my introduction. He's super quiet but vibrant in his own way. I woke up this morning to news that he was shot yesterday by Nigerian soldiers. He's not a cultist, he's not a pic.twitter.com/UC6lvbFJ4J

— Princess Natasha (@Nashbals) June 27, 2023

“This time, they wrote letters to the appropriate authorities and notified them of the protest, but it ended up bloody.

“The chiefs have been compromised in a lot of ways. They get paid by the factory monthly, but that seems not to be enough.

“There are over 1000 youths doing the dirty jobs of breaking limestones in the factory, and they take cuts from each of them.”

In a Tweet shared by Natasha, she stated that after the soldiers shot the young men, including Anasala, they ordered hospitals around not to admit them for treatment.

“They protested and went home, and in the night, soldiers went round the village shooting the boys. The unbelievable part is that they sent letters to hospitals close by, asking them not to attend to anyone from my village,” said Natasha.

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“They shot him in the thigh. He could have survived, but they surrounded the house and didn’t let anyone leave for a while. When they managed to leave, it was too late. He bled to death and the hospitals wouldn’t treat him. Why are soldiers going around shooting?”

FIJ called Onyema Nwachukwu, spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, for comments, but he didn’t take his call. A text message sent to him had also not been responded to at press time.