Patronizers of tricycles especially those plying Katsina road have called on the authorities concerned to come to their aid by addressing incessant attacks taking place between Baban-Gwari roundabout and Kano Hajj camp’s traffic light.
According to some passengers, the area has become a haven for criminals, who developed the habit of attacking passengers of tricycles and robbing them valuables including money, mobile phones and other items in the night hours.
Some of the victims, who spoke to Kano Chronicle on the unfortunate trend, urged the authorities to address the situation as quickly as possible.
One of them, Jabir Shu’aibu Fagge, a tailor told Kano Chronicle that he was attacked by armed thugs in the area about two weeks ago. He said, “I boarded a tricycle from Babban-Layi in Kurna to Fagge and the trycle rider picked another passenger shortly after the newly constructed Kofar-Ruwa underpass bridge.
“The second passenger said he would drop at Triumph Newspaper Company. But when we reached Kanzu mosque between Baban-Gwari roundabout and Hajj camp traffic, he said he would drop. The rider stopped and the man came out and started searching for something in his pocket pretending he was trying to pay the transport fare.”
Fagge added that “instead of bring out money, the guy full out a knife and pointed it at me and asked me to surrender my phones or else he would kill me. I quickly held his hand trying to collect the knife, while he grasped my mobile phone which I was holding and eventually he snatched it and runaway into the graveyard located adjacent to the mosque.”
Another victim, Hajiya Fati Fagge, a health worker, told our reporter that she was stabbed with a knife by a thug, who snatched her hand bag in the area about two weeks ago.
Fati recalled that, “I boarded a tricycle together with my sister Mamu from Kurna quarters to Fagge quarters. A passenger also boarded the tricycle at Gidan-Baban Gwari roundabout. While we were about to reach Ikeja hotel then the man asked the rider to stop. He gave the rider N50 and demanded for change and the rider said he doesn’t have change.
“While they were discussing on where to get change, the man grasped my hand bag trying to snatch it. I screamed and called for help, but the man full out a long knife and stabbed me at my lap. It was at this point that I surrendered the bag to him. The rider quickly jumped out from the tricycle and pursued him. He held the attacker’s leg but he stabbed him with the knife and run away with the bag.”
She said, some youths carrying dangerous weapons stormed the place and claimed to have known the person who snatched my bag and therefore, asked the rider to follow them to Sabon-Gari area to show him the guy but one of the people that helped in rescuing us warned him not to follow them.
“The man who warned the rider not follow the thugs, escorted us to a nearby chemists where I was treated. He told us that the thugs were also criminals and that if the rider follow them, they would attack him and snatch the tricycle,” he said.
Fati, who appealed to police to take necessary action to address the situation, said she lost N20,000 cash, two mobile phones, documents, national identity card, voters’ card, ATM card and some other valuables to the thugs.
Malam Jamilu Saminaka was also attacked by the thugs in the area about two weeks ago and he told our reporter that he boarded a tricycle from IBB way to Kurna when the incident happened.
He recalled that “I met two passengers inside the tricycle. Before we reach Hajj Camp’s traffic light, another passenger stopped us, one of the two passengers came out from the tricycle while the one that stopped us suddenly full out a knife, approached the passenger that was sitting beside me and asked him to surrender his phone. They snatched the phone and then demanded for my own and I gave them.
“Honestly, we suspected the rider to be one of them because he was answering call with his phone when they snatched ours but the thugs did not make any attempt to collect his phone.”
Saminaka appealed to police and other security agencies to take necessary measures that would end the ugly trend, noting that if care was not taken the thugs would gradually turn into proper armed robbers, saying “They will start snatching cars and other means of transportation from their victims.”
Another victim, Ibrahim Kabiru popularly known as Malam Kallah said he was attacked by the thugs in the area about eight months ago.
Malam Kallah said, “Two young men who pretended to be passengers stopped the tricycle I boarded and said they were going to Jaba, but the tricycle rider said he was not going to that area, while he was about to move, one of them snatched my phone and when I attempted to get it back, the other thug pointed a knife at me and threatened to stab me if I touch his colleague.”
Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Magaji Musa Majia said for the past three months, police had not received any complaints from members of the public regarding any criminal activities in the area.
However, he said before then they had received such complaints and they had taken necessary measures of addressing the situation, noting that “we have stationed a police patrol team in the area and stop-and-search point was also erected in the area. Our division in Fagge local government has deployed a team to Filin Dalar-Gyada for constant patrol of the area. Honestly, we have addressed this problem since.”
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