Protest: Police Arrest 212 ‘Hoodlums’ In Jigawa
By: Aminu Ahmed, Dutse
The Jigawa State Police Command has announced the arrest of 212 people suspected of looting and vandalising public and private properties in the state during EndBadGovernance protest.
Mr Ahmed Tijjani Abdullahi, the commissioner of police in the state, told newsmen that 74 of those arrested were charged to court.
He addedd that the police and other security agencies also recovered 50 motorcycles, three tricycles, 12 bicycles, nine chairs, 303 bags of fertilizer, 54 cartons of mosquito nets, two bags of rice and office furnitures.
“You may recall that in anticipation of the plan protest, series of proactive measures were taken to prevent violence and protect lives and properties.These measures include intelligence gathering and surveillance, deployment of additional security personnel to potential hotspots and engagement with critical stakeholders such as pressure groups, hoteliers, Council of Ulama, youth groups, CLOs, members of ACMORAN, NURTW e.t.c.
“Also in that process, we organised community engagement and outreach programmes, monitored social media platforms, regular operation show of force, monitoring the activities of community leaders and influencers and expanded all encompassing town hall meeting organized by the state government”.
“Despite these efforts, on day one of the protest, some unscrupulous and unpatriotic elements who are bent on destabilizing the polity, decided to use and engage teenagers leading to violence and destruction of public properties especially at palliative shops Yalwawa, Shuwarin and Government House in Dutse metropolitan”.
“The teenagers have showed unruly behavior, refusing to listen to our appeals. They have ignored warning and pleas to desist from violence, instead chose to engage in destructive behaviour.
“Their actions have resulted in widespread destruction of government properties and disruption of economic activities”, he emphasis.
Mr Abdullahi maintained that when all appeals failed, the security agencies used minimum force to disperse the violent protesters.
He however said the violent protest also spread to some Local Government areas such as Hadejia, Birnin Kudu, Gumel, Kazaure and Babura.
“To address the situation, additional personnel and equipment had to be deployed to the affected areas”.
“Based on security advice and wider consultation with heads of security agencies, we declared a 24 hour curfew across the state on 1st August, 2024 with a view to curtailing the spread of violence and ensure protection of lives and properties of the law-abiding citizens.”
“The 24-hour curfew is a necessary measure to restore peace and stability and allow the security agencies to contain the situation and prevent further destruction.
“It is gratifying to observe that there is substantial compliance with the curfew by members of the public across the state,” the police chief said.
He called on residents to report anyone or group of persons found engaging in activities likely to disrupt the peace in the state.
