There was pandemonium at a wedding reception in Minna, Niger State, on Friday when hoodlums attacked guests at the UK Bello Arts Theatre a few metres away from Paikoro Police Station and collected mobile phones and other valuables.
Witnesses told City & Crime that everyone at the venue, including the couple, ran to safety as the thugs took control.
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Before the wedding reception incident, earlier on that day, a 25-year-old, Mukhtar Bashir, was killed when hoodlums, popularly known as sara-suka, clashed.
Minna, especially Limawa and Uguwan-Daji, which extend from Stadium Junction to former Skye Bank, as well as Stadium Road, has been under the siege of the thugs since Thursday, with the hoodlums attacking one another with weapons.
When contacted, the state’s police spokesman, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said, “Some miscreants engaged themselves in a free-for-all around Angwan-Daji and Limawa areas of Minna. Unfortunately, during the fight one Muktar Bashir, aged 25 ‘m’ of Limawa was stabbed to death.
“Upon receipt of the information…patrol teams in the metro were mobilised to the scenes and two suspects were apprehended while others took to their heels. However, the corpse was taken to the general hospital, Minna, for autopsy and later released to the family for burial.”
He further said, “On 04/06/2022 at about 1020hrs, a distress call was received of a suspected reprisal attack that some youths were engaging in a similar fight around Stadium Junction on Bosso Road, causing panic and blockage of the road.
“Police tactical teams immediately moved to the area and three other suspects were arrested, including a notorious gang leader from Angwan-Daji by name Isah Aliyu a.k.a Gaye or Obasanjo, aged 23, who stabbed the said Muktar to death.”
He added that others suspects arrested were Ishaya Sunday (22), Sani Ibrahim (24), Aliyu Mohammed (24) and Isah Abdulrahman (20).