Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
About 15 suspects have been arrested by the Kebbi State Police Command for allegedly participated in the protest held on Monday over power outage in the State.
It could be recalled that hundreds of youths, stormed major streets in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State capital to protest against over erratic power supply by the Kaduna Electricity Power Company (KAEDCO).
But the State Area Manager of the Company in Kebbi State, Mr. Dogara Sa’idu in a statement made available to Daily Sun and signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Alhaji Shu’aibu Aliero, noted that there was nothing wrong with the power distribution in the state.
Sa’idu explained that; ” the Company is only grappling with hardship associated with lack of payment of bills by some electricity consumers.”
While confirmed the figure of the suspects arrested, the Police Public Relation Officer(PPRO), Kebbi State command, DSP Nafiu Abubakar in a telephone conversation with the Daily Sun on Thursday said; ” for now,15 suspects have been arrested and the investigation is ongoing “.
Parents of some of those arrested told newsmen that they were worried over the continued detention of their sons and relatives since Monday when the incident happened.
One of the parents said his son was picked up by the police at the place where he was doing his Industrial Training (IT) at Ahmadu Bello Way in Birnin Kebbi.
He said, “We were unable to secure his bail because police said they could not release him alone, he has to be released with the other suspects arrested in connection with the protest”.
Another parent also claimed his son was arrested inside a commercial bank in Birnin Kebbi three days after the protest.
“They claimed he was one of those suspected to be planning a fresh protest on Thursday this week in the metropolis”, the parent said.
In his reaction, the PPRO dismissed the parent’s claims saying that; “It is not true”.