CITY NEWS Hoodlums kill 3, set Bwari market on fire Yuletide: Candido assures residents of safety
Hoodlums have killed three persons and set ablaze Bwari market after suspected cultists stabbed one Wisdom Philip.
City News gathered that Philip was returning from midnight Christmas service yesterday when he was allegedly stabbed by suspected cultists at Market Junction, near Etsu Bwari’s palace.
Joyce Yahaya, a cousin of Philip’s, who spoke to our reporter on phone, said her cousin was attacked by the cultists at about 1:00a.m. while returning from church.
“The cultists were said to be chasing somebody when Philip encountered them and asked why they were chasing somebody at that time of the day and on a special day like Christmas. They were said to have gotten angry and stabbed him in the stomach.
“He was rushed to Summit Hospital at Area One, Bwari, but doctors rejected to admit him, saying his case was beyond them. He died while he was being taken to Bwari General Hospital,” she said.
She said the situation got out of hand later in the morning when relatives of the late Philip went to the cemetery to bury him and the hoodlums went there and chased the mourners away.
She added that the hoodlums then went on rampage, burning shops in the market and attempting to attack places of worship.
Our reporters also learnt that one Julius Pallister was shot and killed by unknown persons at Barki, around T-Junction in the area; while another man, whose identity was yet to be established, had his head macheted in the same area.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police Command, Anjuguri Manzah, said the situation has been normalized by officers drafted to keep the peace.
“Our men are on ground to ensure there is no further break down of law and order,” he said, explaining that the command had not ascertained casualties in the crisis yet. The Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abdullahi Adamu Candido, has said his administration, with the support of security agencies, will ensure that residents celebrate the Yuletide without any hitches.
Candido who said this in his Christmas message yesterday, assured residents that the security agencies are ready to ensure that there was no rancour during the festive period.
“We have met with the security agencies, they are going to be up and doing and we are not going to rest on our oars to ensure that the residents celebrate Christmas and New Year without any hitches by the grace of God,” he said.
He urged residents to go about the celebration peacefully and strive to exhibit all the virtues that Jesus Christ represents.
“It is my appeal that we should work strictly with these lessons that Jesus was all about. If we do that, it will be a good nation for all of us and of course a better country,” he said.