There was a civil unrest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja at 3rd Avenue Gwarinpa, a community over a clash between Hausa and Gbagyi residents of the area.
A source, who witnessed the incident, said it all started when a gang of hoodlums, mostly ‘Keke’ (Tricycle) riders and drug dealers, attacked the home of a politician in the community to rob him.
This prompted some indigenous residents, the Gbagyi people of the community, to retaliate against the Keke riders and drug dealers, who are allegedly mainly Hausas.
The indigenes, according to the eyewitness, started chasing Hausa people away from the community. The source said: “That was how the confrontation started and it led to the death of some of them before the military came and calmed everywhere down. But as I am talking to you know, military, I think they all left again, that was when this second phase started.
“The Hausa guys came from nowhere and started bashing cars. They bashed over 30 cars, like the windows and all.
“After they did that was when the indigenes came out in large numbers; all of them had wounds on their hands. And as I am talking to you right now, they are moving up to the 2nd Avenue, that they are going to the market and chase out all the Hausa guys.”
Videos of the chaotic situation in the community have gone viral on social media but the number of casualties recorded could not be verified.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Police Command, yesterday said that it has deployed officers and men of the command to douse the tension generated by misguided youths and effect necessary arrests to restore normalcy in the territory.
The deployment was necessitated by mild tension along 3rd Avenue at the Gwarinpa axis of the Federal Capital Territory due to a squabble between some Hausa and Gbagyi Youths on April 22, 2023.
Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, in a statement, said that the officers had arrested one, while surveillance patrols had been intensified.
The Police spokesperson noted that the Ag. Commissioner of Police for the FCT, DCP Ahmed Musa had also met with traditional rulers of both the Hausa and Gbagyi communities in Gwarinpa at his office in the Command Headquarters to broker peace between both groups.
She equally said the meeting deliberated on possible collaborations necessary to keep the youths in check and oust troublemakers in the communities.
“The fracas between the two groups which caused the grievous wounding of two youths who were conveyed to the hospital where one was eventually declared dead after attempts to attend to his wounds failed, led to the arrest of one suspect who is currently assisting the police in their investigations to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the affray,” the statement said.
The Acting Commissioner of Police in charge of the FCT has charged the traditional rulers to consistently encourage the youths to imbibe peace and pursue grievances through the legally approved channels rather than taking laws into their hands.
Josephine Adeh a Superintendent of Police, said, the police have intensified surveillance patrols in the areas for monitoring the situation to ensure that it does not further escalate.
The Acting Commissioner of Police in charge of FCT Police Command, urged all well-meaning residents of the FCT to go about their lawful businesses and report all suspicious activities, persons, or groups to the nearest police formation.
