A young student from Yaba College of Technology is dead after being struck by a bullet allegedly fired by a Nigerian Army soldier during a security operation in Lagos, igniting fury among students, residents, and civil society groups.
Balogun Sultan, a second-year National Diploma student, met his untimely end on Tuesday, 3 March 2026, near the WAEC Bus Stop in Yaba just steps away from his campus. He had spent the day sitting for examinations under the institution’s distance learning programme and was heading home to Lagos Island when tragedy struck.
Witnesses on the ground say soldiers had been deployed to the area following intelligence of a potential cult-related confrontation in the Yaba axis. As the operation unfolded, shots were fired — and Sultan, who had no reported connection to any gang activity, was caught in the crossfire while simply trying to leave the scene.
Good Samaritans wasted no time rushing the critically wounded student to Military Hospital Yaba, where doctors performed emergency chest surgery in a desperate bid to save him. Their efforts proved futile. Sultan did not survive.
The killing has sent shockwaves through the Yabatech community and beyond, raising urgent questions about rules of engagement, the protection of civilians during military operations, and accountability within the Nigerian Armed Forces. Students and residents have taken to the streets and social media to demand justice, calling for a transparent investigation into how an innocent exam-taker became a casualty of a security exercise.
As outrage continues to mount, the Nigerian Army has yet to release any official statement acknowledging the incident or confirming the circumstances of Sultan’s death.
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