Three persons comprising two women and a young boy have reportedly been killed in a clash between local scavengers, also known as ‘Baban bola’ and residents of the Byazhin community in Kubwa Village of Bwari area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
An eyewitness, Hassan Dogo, explained that a scavenger attempted to steal a woman’s pot of soup, but was overpowered and beaten up after the woman alerted neighbours and passersby.
The embittered scavenger then went away and mobilised hoodlums who returned at about 8:00 pm on Tuesday wielding weapons including machetes, clubs, and stones and started attacking residents at random leading to the killing of the woman whose pot of soup was earlier stolen.
As the attack continued, two other unidentified people, a woman and a young boy who were passersby unfortunately ran into the middle of the crisis, and were also killed.
“They killed two people yesterday. The community has been in chaos since yesterday. The crisis continued till this morning when they killed somebody again. So far, three persons have been killed and many injured.
“The Police intervened and restored normalcy, but no arrest was made. The Police have intensified their patrol in the Byazhin area of Kubwa to prevent them from regrouping,” one Ms Adams narrated.
Another resident of the community, Ms. Margaret, also confirmed the death of the three persons, but said she had no clue on the cause of the clash.
“Yes, the riot started yesterday. And by this morning, we learnt that three persons have been killed. It happened in Byazhin around Millionaire’s Quarters, behind that Living Faith Church. That place is usually dangerous, because it is quite lonely, and you cannot pass through there alone, especially in the evening”, she said.
However, FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Bennett Igweh, who spoke with our correspondent via telephone, described the event as a “disturbance”, adding that no one died, and a victim who was machetted was receiving treatment at the hospital.
“They started their disturbance, but we have calmed everywhere down. The person who was machetted is in the hospital, only one person. No person has died,” he said.