Commercial activities were paralyzed in Jalingo, Taraba State as tricycle operators staged a protest over the killing of their colleagues by unknown assailants.
The protest, which started on Friday morning, September 8, 2023, resulted in the blockage of some major highways in Jalingo metropolis, including Nukkai, ATC, and Micheline.
The state chairman of the Association of Tricycle Operators, Abdullahi Bello, who confirmed the incident said the victim identified as Yahuza Abdullahi was killed by assailants posing as passengers.
According to him, the suspects initially hired the victim but killed him and made off with his tricycle.
A rider, Ibrahim Hassan told the Premium Times that the protest was hijacked by hoodlums and soon became violent causing tension in the city and forcing residents to scamper to safety.
The protest also forced many traders to close their shops as hoodlums attempted to break into shops to loot.
“There have been reported cases of Keke theft in Jalingo. This issue has been on for a while now until we decided to carry out a protest today over the killing of one of us,” Umar said.
Abdullahi Bello, added: “The protest created tension but the police and the military quickly intervened to avoid further crisis. Hoodlums hijacked the protest and turned it violence, even my office was destroyed Soldiers and police officers deployed to the area dispersed the protesters,”
Spokesperson of the State Police Command, Usman Abdullahi, confirmed the incident.
“We got information this morning that a corpse was cited around Nukkai and we mobilised our men to go and evacuate it, but on reaching there the Keke NAPEP riders hijacked the corpse, barricaded the roads and attacked our men. However, we have been able to restore calm and the Command has launched an investigation into the incident,” the PPRO said.
