Headquarters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Jigawa State is currently on fire. The secretariat was torched during the violence that broke out in the protest against hunger.
Aggrieved youths had stormed the facility in Dutse, the state capital, where they destroyed bill boards and other publicity materials before burning down the building. They also burnt vehicles that were parked within the premises.
The violence spread to some other parts of the state as armed youths broke lose despite efforts of security operatives to contain them. In Birnin Kudu, where some persons sustained injuries, the State Fertilizer Store and Grains Store were all vandalized and looted by the hoodlums, while the store of the state Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO) in Gumel was also attacked.
The mob also attacked residence of the House of Representatives member representing Gumel, Gagarawa and Maigarati, as well as the residence of the APC Zonal Vice Chairman.
Kano, Borno, Yobe declare curfew
The governments of Kano, Borno, and Yobe states have declared curfew, as the protests that began across Nigeria degenerated into violence in some areas.
Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano declared a 24-hour curfew in the state with immediate effect. Yusuf said all security agencies were directed to ensure full and immediate compliance. The Governor announced this while addressing newsmen at the Kano State government house.
He said the action became imperative to ensure full protection of lives and properties in the state as hoodlums and thugs had hijacked the protest to embark on looting and indiscriminate killing of innocent citizens.
Yobe
In Yobe State, the government imposed a 24-hour curfew in Potiskum, Gashua, and Nguru towns, where some hoodlums took advantage of the protest to vandalise and loot properties.
Dairy Abdulsalam, the Special Adviser to Governor Mai Mala Buni on Security Matters, urged the public to abide by the curfew order. He urged them to stay at home for peace to reign in the affected areas and the state at large.
According to him, the security agencies have been directed to ensure enforcement and full compliance of the curfew order.
Borno
In Borno State, a 24-hour curfew was imposed across the state. A suicide bomber had rocked Kawuri Village in Konduga Local Government Area, killing 16 people and injuring 20 others.
According to a statement by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Daso, “In line with our constitutional mandate towards the restoration of law and order, the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umar Zulum, in consultation with heads of security in the state, finds it expedient to declare 24 hours curfew in the state with immediate effect.
“I, therefore, wish to call upon the good people of Borno State to remain calm and law-abiding. Further developments will be communicated to you accordingly please.”
As the planned nationwide protest against hunger begins today, the organisers and the police, the lead security agency, have held their positions as the former insisted on a street procession, while the latter maintained its stance of having the protest confined to designated spots.
FCT, Abuja
The Nigerian military has taken over the popular AYA-Kubwa highway, which gives access to the biggest housing estate in Africa, Gwarimpa, and leads to other parts of northern Nigeria. The protesters were said to have started their demonstration peacefully in the morning, however, they later became violent and exploitative as the protest gathered momentum later in the day.
It was gathered that the protesters made up mostly of street urchins and criminals, started by blocking and molesting motorists on service lanes of the ten-lane highway, and subsequently extended the heinous trade to the centre of the road by blocking it and making bonfires and stopping motorists and extorting money from them.
They also brazenly ignored the presence of policemen and civil defence operatives and attacked motorists and passersby who did not pay them what they requested. As the hoodlums blocked the highway and extorted motorists, they also beat up those who refused to part with cash.
The information immediately spread to the military authorities, who immediately dispatched troops and armoured trucks to take over the highway. As the military forces arrived, they cut off the highway at Katampe roundabout with armoured trucks to check incoming and outgoing movement.
The military placed similar armoured trucks and personnel at different and strategic locations and pushed the mob away. But the troops could not immediately clear the road of the huge stones, tree trunks and burnt tyres as well as other impediments which the hoodlums erected to stall free movement before the military arrived.
