COVID-19: How 70-year-old died over lockdown enforcement

A 70-year-old driver has lost his life at Maraban Gwanda, Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State when a vigilante group on lockdown enforcement duty attempted to arrest him.

Investigation by Arewa Trust Weekly correspondent showed that the driver, Malam Isiyaku Garba, has taken fertilizer to the village, a suburb on the outskirts of Zaria along Kano-Zaria express road, but was intercepted by the vigilantes on his way back.

An eyewitness, who was in the bus with Malam Garba, Musa Adamu, said the vigilantes were arresting motorists when they arrived the scene.

Adamu added: “When they arrested us, my boss pleaded but they insisted on parading him before the mobile court in the area. Suddenly, he began gasping. I quickly took over the driver’s seat and I was able to bring back the bus under control. I was confused, therefore, began calling for help to take him to hospital. Having realised that my boss was dying  the vigilantes attempted to run. This made people descend on them.”

Mubarak Hassan is another eyewitness and a resident of Maraban Gwanda.

He said: “People were angry as such they attempted to lynch one of the vigilantes, but was rescued by his colleagues in their car and quickly zoomed off. Some youths attempted to also lynch the Magistrate with her assistants, but were rescued by the villagers.”

A son of the deceased, Mustapha Abdulhamid, said they were called from the scene to come and retrieve the corpse of their father.

“I want to call on the Kaduna State government to revisit its lockdown enforcement measures and the activities of security agents, especially the vigilante groups, because they are not trained.” When contacted, the Kaduna Police Command’s spokesperson, ASP Muhammad Jalige, said since the incident happened before a mobile court, the police have no right to make any comment.

Similarly, the leader of the Kaduna State Vigilante Group (KADVIS) in the Northern zone of the state, Bala Galadima, confirmed the incident when contacted, saying that members of his group were not responsible for the death.