How DPO, soldiers were wounded in Kajuru crisis

• …police debunk reports of fresh violence

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Kajuru Local Government of Kaduna CSP Umar Faruku and several soldiers were among those injured in the crisis that engulfed Kasuwan Magani on Friday.

Daily Trust had earlier reported that two persons were killed and a house burnt in the short time the crisis lasted, which was followed by a curfew imposed on the area by the state government.

The DPO and the soldiers as well as other policemen who were shot during the crisis are receiving treatment at the Kalapanzin Barracks, St. Gerard’s and JNI Hospitals in Kaduna.

The police public relations officer in Kaduna, DSP Yakubu Sabo, confirmed that the DPO is responding to treatment.

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, alongside the deputy governor-elect Hadiza Balarabe and other top government officials also visited the wounded DPO, soldiers and other civilians.

The police officer and the soldiers were injured as they made to disperse the youths who had already set a house in Kasuwan Magani ablaze.

Kasuwan Magani is a 30-minute drive from the state capital and has experienced several crises in the past two years

Source in the local government said some arrests had been made in connection with the fracas in Kajuru.

The local government chairman, Mr. Cafra Caino, said normalcy had returned to the affected areas as people have been observing the 24 hour curfew imposed on the LG.

The Kaduna State Government had on Friday also extended the curfew in Kajuru to Kujama and Maraban Rido communities of Chikun local government area of the state. They were however placed on a dusk to dawn curfew.

The police in Kaduna however issued a statement yesterday debunking reports of crises around Sabon Tasha and Mararraban Rido areas of Kaduna metropolis.

A statement by the force PPRO described the information as fake and mischievous, adding that it was intentionally fabricated by some misguided persons to create panic and disharmony among the citizens of the state.

He said what actually happened was an incident that occurred when a person was suspected to have attempted to steal a pair of shoes in a shop at Sabo Market and was caught.

“Thus, while the suspected thief was being pursued by good Samaritans, people moving within the neighbourhood started running haphazardly thinking that it was a crisis.

“The situation caused pandemonium and rumours spread immediately within the town and beyond,” he said.

The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police CP Ahmad Abdur-Rahman has dispelled any such rumour of ethnic or religious coloration in the incident and has immediately directed all the security operatives to intensify patrol to forestall any possible break down of law and order and to also boost public confidence. He said Kaduna is peaceful.

The Kaduna State Government had about two weeks ago established a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the incessant violent crises in Kajuru local government area of the state.

The commission is to be chaired by Justice Isa Aliyu of the High Court of Kaduna State, while Barrister Edward Andow, the Director of Commercial Law in the Ministry of Justice, is the Secretary to the Commission.

The commission is mandated to identify the immediate and remote causes of all instances of disturbances from 2017 to date in Kajuru, Kachia, Chikun LGAs and surrounding communities and recommend to government steps to be taken to forestall future occurrence of the disturbances.