According to Abiodun, “The Command immediately dispatched police patrol teams to the scene, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations DCP Shehu Umar Didango. The demonstrators purposefully refused to clear the road for public use, but only after the Police successfully persuaded them.”
“His Excellency, Com. Yakubu Garba, the Deputy Governor of Niger State, also made himself available at the scene and spoke to the group, but they ignored him and continued to use violence.”
He also revealed that the police used minimal force to break up the demonstrators who grew violent, hurling rocks, bottles, sticks, cutlasses, and other potentially harmful items at them. They also caused damage to police patrol cars and portions of the roof of the Kpakungu Division.
He claimed,
“During this, the Police arrested Fatima Aliyu, Aisha Jibrin, Fatima Isyaku, and 22 other miscreants who started the protest.”
A bench and a stick that were used as a barricade, three knives, a pair of scissors, a cutlass, a saw blade, an iron pipe, four additional sticks, two wraps of Indian hemp, and charms are among the items that were found from them.
Abiodun disclosed that during Aisha Jibrin’s interrogation, she claimed not to have known that her acts were illegal and that she had told Hassan, a local youth leader, about the impending protest. Hassan is accused of neglecting to warn the police of the planned protest.
The suspects have been brought to the State Criminal inquiry Department (SCID) in Minna for additional inquiry, including the accused initiator Aisha Jibrin.
In addition to preparing to file charges against them, the authorities are working to capture any additional identifiable participants in the violent demonstration.