A mob on Wednesday set ablaze a tricycle alleging that it belonged to a phone snatching syndicate in Kofar Kabuga in Gwale LGA of Kano State.
Witnesses said that members of the syndicate who snatched phones started from their operation from around the emir’s palace to the popular Nasarawa Hospital in Nasarawa LGA, and that after youths mobilised to confront them they escaped to the Kofar Kabuga area where they abandoned the tricycle.
A witness said, “They came here on their tricycle and started snatching peoples’ phones. They normally do this on a daily basis. That was why people decided to take action against them. They attacked them in their large numbers that was why they ran and their tricycle was set ablaze.
“People are tired of this menace. When they are arrested they normally get released. So, that was why people started taking action. I witnessed a similar incident on State Road, where a tricycle was set ablaze. But before they burnt it, they recovered over 30 mobile phones inside. The most annoying part of it is that they will sell them at cheaper prices just to buy drugs.”
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A source said, “They either enter tricycles as passengers to snatch phones or use their tricycles to carry people and along the way snatch their phones.”
City & Crime reports that phone snatching has become rampant in Kano metropolis since after the 2023 elections, with many people being robbed, others injured and some killed by the phone snatchers.
Following the incident, the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Muhammed Usaini Gumel, cautioned the public against taking the law into their hands, calling on them to complement police’ efforts to end the menace and ensure the culprits were arrested.
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