Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse
Hoodlums believed to political thugs stormed the house of former Minister of Commerce, Bello Maitama and vandalised his vehicles and that of the Speaker, Jigawa State House of Assembly, Isa Idris.
Mr. Maitama, a minister in the First Republic, was chairing a reconciliation meeting with some aggrieved members of the APC in his residence in Gwaram Local Government Area when the attackers invaded his home in their numbers with the intention of disrupting the meeting.
An eyewitness who was part of the reconciliation committee told journalists that it took the combined efforts of security agencies to save the ex-minister and the speaker. But their vehicles were vandalised.
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He said that the security agencies had to fire shots into the air to disperse the rampaging thugs otherwise the situation could have turned deadly.
It would be recalled that current governor, Muhammad Badaru, had constituted a reconciliation committee to bring together all aggrieved members of the APC in the state ahead of the 2019 polls.
The attackers were alleged to have been sponsored by local politicians nursing grudges against Gwaram council boss, Abdulmalik Shehu, whom they accuse of running a non-inclusive government.
A source told the reporter that the political atmosphere in Gwaram has been tense since the council boss was installed by the state government. He is being accused of failing to carry members of the party at grassroots along.
When contacted, the Jigawa State Police Command spokesperson, Abdu Jinjiri, described the development was a fight between some political thugs after their meeting with the ex-minister.
He explained that the development took place over the weekend and the police had arrested ten suspects with regard to the violence. He also admitted that five persons were injured in the fracas, adding that they were currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.