Kaduna State Government this evening imposed a 24-hour-curfew over Jema’a Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, North-West Nigeria.

The curfew was imposed after angry youths rioted over the alleged shooting to death of two youths who were among an unruly crowd insisting that jungle justice be meted out to 32 Fulani men arrested in Kafanchan by the Army for being in possession of weapons.

Mr. Yashim Bonnat, 30, a youth leader in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a LGA, who spoke on phone, said: “I am around the Railway Junction of Kafanchan town. Youths have surrounded an office around here where soldiers are keeping 32 Fulani men that they caught this morning around 10am while trying to fuel their truck. I saw with my eyes the weapons recovered from them. They included 12 AK rifles, about 13 dane guns, a bag of ammunition, all kinds of machetes, knives, and what looks like improvised explosives, among others.

“They are saying that the men were coming to attack Kafanchan and that it was God that apprehended them. So they want the soldiers to release them to be lynched by them. You can hear the shooting of guns in the air to scare them away. My nose is choking with tear gas, too; sorry I will call you back” – and he hung up.

Another source, a legal practitioner based in Kafanchan, who asked that his name not be mentioned, said: “Two families have contacted me over the shooting to death of their sons by soldiers this morning. They are natives of this area. The soldiers are going from street to street chasing and shooting those they see. They are even firing from amoured tanks. Many have been injured either from bullets shots, or by the brutality of rampaging soldiers. This is making the youths in this town to start bonfires in many locations. There is dark smoke all over Kafanchan now.”

Kaduna State Police Command Spokesman, DSP Aminu Lawan, said the incident had to do with the Nigerian Army and not the Police. “It is the Army that arrested the people. It is the Army that is said to have shot people. They have not briefed us. I cannot speak for them,” he said.

Spokesman of the First Infantry Division, Kaduna, Col. Usman Abdul, told newsmen on phone that he had heard of the arrests and the violence in Kafanchan but had not been sufficiently briefed to make any statement to the press. He asked for more time. About two hours later, Abdul did not pick his call and did not call back at the time of sending this report.

As tension heightened, the Chairman of Jema’a LGA, Mr. Daniel Amos, with the permission of the state government, imposed a 24-hour curfew over the area.

Director General, Media and Publicity to the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Ahmed Maiyaki, said: “Yes, a 24-hour curfew has been imposed only on Jema’a LGA. No other part of Southern Kaduna is affected by the curfew. The Chairman of the Council got the permission from the governor.”

•Photo shows Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State.

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