The Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of four people over a violent clash between residents of Kurmi village and loggers in Burra District of Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
Sources from the village said the incident happened on Sunday when the residents, apparently fed up with the activities of the loggers, which was according to them accelerating deforestation in the area, entered the forest and burnt to ashes the timber gathered by the loggers.
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A resident, Malam Aminu Kurmi, told Daily Trust that, “Local government officials are aiding the deforestation exercise and the tree fellers are fighting back through security agencies.”
Another resident, Malam Ahmed Kurmi, said the youths acting on the recent law in the state which criminalises tree felling, stormed the forest and set ablaze the wood logged by the syndicate, a development which he noted sparked off the clash.
When contacted, Chairman of Ningi LGA, Mamuda Tabla, denied the involvement of any official of the council in the business of logging, insisting that, “As a local administration, we are doing everything possible to protect the environment, more so that the state government has signed the law prohibiting tree felling in the state.
He explained that the clash was between a group of youths from Kurmi village who took the laws into their hands and attacked people, adding that with the prompt intervention of security operatives, the situation had been brought under control as normalcy had been restored to the area.
The police spokesman in the state, SP Ahmed Wakil, said the police in collaboration with the army moved to the scene of the clash and arrested four suspects.
Wakil explained that two motorcycles were burnt and that a number of the youths were injured.
