By Amnesty International, a non-governmental organisation dubbed as human rights defenders, has called on Nigerian authorities to investigate the death of a 14-year-old secondary school girl in Maiduguri.
In a post on its official Facebook page, Amnesty International alleged that the tragic death of the girl resulted from the “reckless use of firearms by the military.”
According to Amnesty International, the young girl was killed on Saturday, April 4, after she was hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired by military personnel at a nearby wedding ceremony.
“The Nigerian authorities must investigate the reckless use of firearms by the military that led to the killing of a girl in Maiduguri, Borno State.
“The 14-year-old secondary school student was killed on Saturday, April 4, after being hit by a stray bullet while inside her home. The fatal shot was reportedly fired by military personnel engaged in celebratory gunfire during a wedding ceremony at a nearby event centre,” Amnesty noted.
According to a close source, the deceased was inside her home in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) quarters with her family when she was hit.
“She (the deceased) lived in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) quarters with her family and was inside her home when the tragedy occurred. She had just finished applying henna for her mother and herself, joyfully preparing for a family wedding scheduled for that same day.”
Amnesty International noted that she had been buried earlier today in Maiduguri. However, her family and friends are still demanding answers from the government over what they described as a preventable death.
To safeguard lives and ensure justice, the organisation has called for a timely, transparent, and effective probe into the incident.
The menace of military-related stray shootings dates back decades in Nigerian history. On July 12, 2017, The Guardian reported that a stray bullet allegedly from the shooting range of the 2 Division Nigerian Army at Adekunle Fasuyi Cantonment in Ibadan hit a four-year-old pupil in a nursery school.
The boy, identified as Abdul Lateef Adeyemi, was within the school premises when the bullet, allegedly fired by soldiers, struck him in the head. Residents claimed the bullet came from an ongoing shooting exercise conducted at the nearby Barracks
In another report by HumAngle, a nine-year-old girl, Zainab Bala-Umar, was killed on Saturday, September 4, 2021, after being hit by a bullet allegedly fired by a soldier in Gwanki Ward, Makarfi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The incident occurred when a soldier attempted to disperse a crowd during a local government election.
Also, TVC News reported on November 14, 2025, that during a clash between troops of Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) and members of Operation Zenda in Naka, Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State, a 12-year-old boy was hit in the leg by a stray bullet.
Still in Benue, in another report on October 1, 2025, by Zagazola, a counter-insurgency expert in West Africa, three students of Government Science Secondary School, Jato-Aka, were hit by stray bullets during a gunfight between army troops and bandits. One female student was confirmed dead, while the other two were hospitalised
The recurring cases of civilian casualties linked to stray bullets bring serious concerns about the rules of engagement and use of firearms within security operations in Nigeria. As calls for justice continue over the Maiduguri incident, Nigerians must begin to demand stricter control of firearms, thorough investigations, and concrete measures to prevent further loss of innocent lives.
