At least 10 people were injured in Jigawa State on Thursday as protests against hardship and hunger turned violent. Hoodlums infiltrated the protests, leading to the vandalism and looting of government properties, including the APC state secretariat, which was set on fire.
The protests, which were part of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance demonstrations, sprang up in over 10 major towns across the state, including Hadejia, Gumel, Birnin Kudu, Dutse, Jahun, Kazaure, and Shuwarin.
In Hadejia city, four people were hospitalized due to injuries and suffocation from teargas fired by Anti-Riot Policemen, while government-owned agricultural stores were looted.
In Gumel town, several properties were vandalized and looted, including the store of the Jigawa State Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), a private house belonging to a House of Representatives member representing Gumel, Gagarawa, Maigarati federal constituency, and the house of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) zonal vice chairman. One lady was reported to have sustained injury from the teargas canister and is currently receiving treatment at Gumel General Hospital.
In Birnin Kudu, the State Fertilizer Store and Grains Store were vandalized and looted by the hoodlums, who blocked all major roads linking the town, including the Kano-Maiduguri Highway.
In Dutse, the state capital, five persons were taken to Rasheed Shekoni General Hospital as a result of injuries they sustained, while security operatives succeeded in blocking the hoodlums from vandalizing many public properties. However, the APC state secretariat in the capital city was burnt.
Similarly, in Jahun, Kazaure, and Shuwarin towns, the situation was the same, as the hoodlums, who posed as protesters, took to the streets calling for the end of bad governance.
There are fears of possible escalation of the protests to other local government areas of the state, as youth begin to regroup in defiance of the directives of Islamic clerics and Traditional Rulers against joining the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests.
