Flamingo axis is a no go area. Please motorists and pedestrians should use alternative routes for safety. Presently, Maitumbi boys are heading towards that area with their weapons.”

“Avoid the Dana area and along Texaco by bridge. The landlords have started since but police is around to calm the situation.”

“Please avoid Obasanjo road, the thugs are out again. Take alternative routes.”

“Please avoid Mobil, Obasanjo Complex, Limawa, Ogbomosho, Sabon Gari, Paida and Unguwar Daji this night, serious fight is ongoing there at the moment. The police are overwhelmed.”

The foregoing were messages circulated among Minna residents on Whatsapp, Facebook and other social media platforms, warning them of the affray engaged in by thugs and youth gangs in order not to fall victim to the mayhem they unleash on the Niger State capital on a daily basis.

The youth gangs go by various names depending on the areas where they are located. In Minna, the popular ones include Kpakungun Boys, Soje Boys, Bariki Sale Boys, Maitumbi Boys, Limawa Boys, Kwangila Boys, Stadium Road Boys and Tundun Nasarawa Boys, among others.

The boys who form these youth gangs are aged between 10 and 18 years. They usually look fierce and could be seen with various dangerous weapons including knives, cutlasses, clubs, catapults and stones.

The boys are dreaded by residents of Minna metropolis. So much so that some parts of the city are usually avoided by residents once it is 5pm as no one knows when the next brawl would erupt.

Many people have been killed. Many others have been injured while properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed by the gangs. Getting caught in their brawl can lead to injuries, destruction of vehicles and even stealing of handsets and valuables.

In the latest clash amongst the gangs on April 13, a tailor and a security officer were among the victims of the Maitumbi clash. The tailor was caught up in the clash while he was on his way to deliver Sallah clothes to his customer.

The hoodlums broke people’s shops and went away with items worth millions of naira in Maitumbi after an ugly clash with security agents In the Kadna area of Tunga Goro in Minna, the gangs there got involved in fighting, looting people’s properties and raiding shops.

During these fights, properties including private cars, motorcycles, tricycles and shops were destroyed by errant youths. The miscreants did not spare even security agents, women and underage children as they seized the opportunity to snatch mobile phones, jewellery, cash and other valuable personal effects from their victims.

One of the victims, Mrs Akin Alofetekun said that she was in Maitumbi uphill for a special prayer session when her car was completely vandalised by the hoodlums. She said it was by the grace of God that she and other people with her were not harmed.

Early in the year, a journalist, Celine Moses Alkali, was caught up in one of such attacks, leading to the loss of her phone. Her daughter was also traumatized and had to be admitted in the hospital for days.

The people in the state capital have become overly concerned over the consistent youth restiveness that has seemingly gone out of control and have called on the governor to do something about it.

Concerning one of the latest incidents, the Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, said that two persons were killed while six suspects were arrested.

The heinous activities of the youth gangs led to the cancellation of the Sallah Durbar which used to be the climax of the Sallah celebration. For the past two Sallahs, the Durbar have been cancelled because it was learnt that the youth gangs seize the opportunity to clash and perpetrate other forms of notorious acts.

Several of the youths involved in the gang fights have been arrested at one time or the other by security agents, but they are usually released with intervention from some prominent persons. The development has become very worrisome, especially when the youths return home from detention, announce their return to the community and continue to do worse than they did before their arrest.

Last year, the Niger State Police Command arrested more than 40 of these youths from Stadium Junction, Limawa, Angwan-Daji, Bosso Road, Flamingo Junction, Morris Junction and Barkin-Sale with cutlasses, scissors, knives, swords, cell phones, shisha pipes/pots, saws, scales, iron bars, illicit drugs and screwdrivers.

The Niger State House of Assembly has also joined in condemning the increasing number of youth gangs and has called on the government to take decisive action against the perpetrators and sponsors of the youth unrest in Minna.

The Speaker, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, said: “The return of youth restiveness in the state, particularly in Minna, the state capital, is capable of eroding all the gains so far recorded by the present administration in the area of security and the maintenance of law and order.

“Though we commend Governor Umar Mohammed Bago and the various security agencies for the prompt actions taken so far to tame the situation, there is a need for decisive action against the perpetrators and their sponsors.”

The lawmakers stated that Niger State House of Assembly would revisit the law against thuggery in the state in order to empower the security agencies to deal more decisively with the perpetrators.

Penultimate Monday, the legislators also summoned the heads of all security agencies and other relevant stakeholders in the state to find a way out of the situation.

LG chair in bid to end youth gang wars

The Chairman of Chachanga Local Government Area, Aminu Ladan, has taken it upon himself to ensure there is relative peace in Minna and has begun a house to house and street to street arrest of the youths involved in the gang wars.

This is coming after a security meeting was held at the palace of the Emir of Minna on April 7 where a directive was issued that anyone that causes unrest or seen with weapons in a bid to do so should be shot at sight by security agents.

However, while this directive may have gone out, the security agencies cannot carry out the directive until it is passed into law by the House of Assembly.

Ladan said during the meeting that the days of arrest and bail has ended, adding that any community leader caught involving himself in covering or trying to bail those arrested for causing unrest would be removed and dealt with.

“The state government has backed me up and has given me the permission to direct the police and order security outfits in the state to put an end to the days of arrest and bail of anyone caught disrupting the peace of the good people of the state, and henceforth, anyone seen causing unrest should be gunned down immediately.

“Those miscreants have already caused a lot of damage to the residents, the government and even to the security personnel, as they have injured a lot of officers on duty, including a DPO.

“They have become thieves. They attack security men and also damaged government properties recently. These are among the reasons why the government has decided to gun anyone down who chooses to disrupt the peace of the emirate,” he stated.

Apparently unfazed by the reluctance of the security agencies to carry out the shoot at sight directive, the chairman, whose local government council is one of the mostly affected by gang wars, has taken it upon himself to lead local vigilantes and police operatives to the areas where these gang wars occur and arrest those involved.

In a space of one week, more than 20 teenagers and youths involved in various fights that occurred during the Sallah celebration have been apprehended.

Describing his method as an initiative on crime control, Ladan and the security operatives have succeeded in disrupting chains of attempts by criminals and arrested several thuggery kingpins, seized many illicit weapons and prevented the commission of crimes.

He has maintained that there is no more space for criminal elements to operate in Minna as he expressed his determination to continue to fish out any criminal element from their hideouts and ensure protection of lives and property through increased operations.

Governor Bago declares state of emergency on thuggery

The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago, has since declared a state of emergency on thuggery in the state in his bid to checkmate the youth gangs across Minna metropolis.

He said the state government would no longer condone any form of criminal activity in the state as his administration has zero tolerance for rascality and thuggery, adding that security agencies have been directed to deal decisively with anyone caught taking part in thuggery or other criminal activities.

He added that sponsors of the criminal elements will also not be spared even as buildings harbouring criminals would be demolished.

The Governor also disclosed that proactive steps of combining conventional and non-conventional security strategies to contain other forms of terrorist activities that could pose threats to the peaceful people of Niger State were being taken. (The Nation)

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