Three persons were killed, while many were injured when some hoodlums launched an attack at
Byazhin area of Kubwa, a major satellite town of the FCT, Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The mayhem started when a suspected ‘baban bola,’ a refuse collector, attempted to snatch a pot of soup from a woman. Angered by the act, the woman raised the alarm and drew people’s attention. Immediately a crowd gathered, a mob overpowered the culprit and beat him up.
An eyewitness who simply identified herself as Jessica Adam told D’Gallery that the ‘baban bola’ escaped from the scene and later mobilised hoodlums who came with dangerous weapons, including machetes, clubs and stones and started attacking residents gruesomely. They killed the owner of the pot of soup who was identified as Idoma woman. They also killed another woman during the attack.
D’Gallery gathered that by 8:00 pm, scores of hoodlums regrouped and resumed the attack and killed a boy.
The eyewitness said the boy and the woman were passers-by who ran into the crisis unknowingly.
Jessica Adam said: “They killed two people yesterday afternoon when the crisis started. The community has been in chaos since yesterday. The crisis continued till this morning when they killed somebody again. So far, three persons have been killed and many injured.”
D’Gallery gathered that the police had restored normalcy to the community, but no arrest had been made. They have also intensified patrol to prevent the hoodlums from regrouping.
Some military officers, too, have been deployed to the community to reinforce the police and they are still on ground with armoured cars to ensure security.
Reports said that some parents who were not aware of the crisis and took their children and wards to schools later ran back to pick them for fear of attack.
As at yesterday, the crisis paralysed business activities as schools, shops and supermarkets around Byazhin remain closed. Residents, too, remained indoors for dear life.
Although business activities have resumed skeletally as some shop owners have opened their shops. Some schools also opened today. While some parents took their children to schools, others did not for fear of attack.
Some people are also going about their normal businesses, but others are indoors.
G’Gallery gathered that they had restored normalcy.
However, the FCT Police Command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Josephine Adeh, has yet to confirm the incident because she could not be reached.
