THERE was pandemonium again in Kaduna Sunday when hundreds of residents in the metropolis scampered for safety following the rumour of crisis in Sabo, a suburb of the southern axis of the town, at about 12.45 p.m when most church worshippers were rounding off Sunday services.
Meanwhile, violence erupted again in Yobe State as gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect on motorcycles attacked a beer parlour at Ngalda in Fika Local Council, killed the proprietor (names withheld) and injured six others at about 8.00 p.m. at the weekend.
Immediately the rumours rent the air in Sabo, there were trucks of armed soldiers and police on major roads to arrest the situation, while people deserted most streets and highways. Few vehicles were seen plying the roads, as residents kept in-doors.
Incidentally, violence in Borno continued to erupt and spread to the neighbouring Adamawa State as gunmen also suspected as Boko Haram members attacked the palace of the District Head of Gulak, Dr. Sa'ad Danbram, and killed him by slitting his throat before his wives and children.
Gulak is 202 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and an epicentre of activities of the Islamist sect. An eyewitness and resident of Gulak, Isa Ibrahim, also said that the gunmen came on motorcycles at midnight and demanded the presence of the district head, before bursting into his room, tied his hands to the back and slit his throat in the glare of family members.
Certifying their victim dead, they fled through the Maiduguri-Mubi Road at 1.35 a.m., while body of the slain was buried in the afternoon.
However, according to a statement by the Director-General of Media and Publicity to the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Ahmed Maiyaki, the state government has appealed to all law-abiding citizens to go about their businesses as security agents would deal with law-breakers.
The statement stressed: "The entire people of Kaduna State have been urged to remain calm and go about their normal businesses as government has taken steps to forestall any break of law and order in any part of the state."
In another development, the Christian and Muslim Youths Development Initiative (CMYDIT) yesterday applauded Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State for effectively handling the insecurity and Boko Haram insurgency in Maiduguri metropolis and its environs.
The CMYDIT commendation came in a joint statement of its co-chairmen, Mr. Deinde Toyin Komolafe and Alhaji Adamu Musa, which was made available to newsmen in Maiduguri yesterday. The two religious and youth groups said the governor's timely intervention in the recent multiple bomb blasts and attacks in Gombouru, Hausari and Bolori wards of the metropolis, where property worth millions of naira were destroyed, assisted in calming "shocks and frayed nerves" of the affected residents.
Maiyaki described as "unfounded and false the rumour of crisis in the metropolis," adding however that "Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has warned that government will deal decisively with any person or group found disrupting peace and order in the state."
On the attack at Aduwan Gida in Zangon-Kataf Local Council, the governor pleaded with people of the area and other parts of the state to remain calm, "as government has ordered an immediate investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident."
According to a resident of Ngalda in Yobe State, Yohanna Musa, who spoke in a telephone chat yesterday, the gunmen took the proprietor of the beer parlour and customers by surprise when three suspects on two motorcycles stormed the building and opened fire at the people seated at various tables taking their drinks.
"The people had to run for safety, while many of them sustained various degrees of injuries in the stampede when several shots were fired at them last night," Musa said, adding that the assailants, who came on two unmarked motorbikes, afterwards fled towards Nafada town in Gombe State on the Potiskum-Gombe road at 8.35 p.m.
Musa further disclosed that the "way and manner" the suspects attacked and killed the proprietor were similar to the Boko Haram, who had been attacking and killing people at mosques, churches, markets, houses and shops in the state. He said that Fika town, which is about 15 kilometres from Ngalda, was attacked and a church, police station and beer parlour burnt, killing five people, including two policemen at their duty posts.
Confirming the incident yesterday in Damaturu, the Yobe State Police Command spokesman, Salisu Adamu, said that though he was not in office, the report of the Area Police Commander indicated that a beer parlour was attacked by armed hoodlums last night at Ngalda where one person was feared killed and several people injured in a stampede.
Meanwhile, a top government source told The Guardian that it was an attempted reprisal attack by some youths in Sabo over the unfortunate incident at Aduwan Gida that resulted to the commotion in Kaduna metropolis, which sent many people running for their lives.
The Guardian