From John .Adams Minna
After two months of respite, restive Youths on Friday returned to the streets of Minna, the Niger state capital and brought business activities to a standstill as they unleash terror on innocent citizen, leading to the death of one policeman and a businessman.
Although the youths from two different areas of Minna, the state capital had engaged each other in a violent confrontation since on Thursday evening, it however climaxed on Friday with killing of the policeman who was among those drafted to curtail the violence and restore law and order.
However the businessman from the eastern part of the country was said to have been stabbed as the youths move from streets to streets.
Reason for the latest clash between the youths is not known as at the time of filing this reports, but might not be unconnected to their usual show of force among themselves.
Clashes between armed youth gangs in Minna has become a regular in the state capital incidents that have led to the death of many youths and serious injuries to others.
Recalled that in November last year, the youths took over the entire Minna where they engaged each other in free for all fight, using every available dangerous weapon against each other, leading to death of two unidentified youths.
Worried by the development, the state governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello constituted a special vigilante corp to deal with youth restiveness in the state, especially, Minna, the state capital.
While one eyewitness claimed the policeman was stabbed to death by one of the youths another report says that the security man met his untimely death
when bullet from the gun of his colleague reportedly hit him causing instant death.
The deceased colleague, it was gathered tried to shoot into the air to scare the rampaging youths when the bullet mistakenly hit him but later died at the Minna general hospital.
Although the state police command is yet to issue a statement on the incident, efforts to get police confirmation from the State Police Command Public Relations Officer DSP Wasiu Abiodun could not yield any result as all his phones were switched off.
However the Commissioner for Local Government and Internal Security Mr Emmanuel Umar when contacted said:
“Yes it happened, I have contacted the Commissioner of Police who promised to give me the details later”.
Meanwhile peace has returned to the troubled area of the capital city as a result of reinforcement of policemen to the area even as Armed policemen are still patrolling the town.
