Abuja Chieftaincy Clash: Police Confirm Two Killed, Houses Torched
Authorities of the FCT Police Command on Christmas day disclosed that only two persons were confirmed dead in Hausa/Gbagi community clash that engulfed the Bwari district of Abuja over Chieftaincy dispute.
According to a senior Police officer, the Chieftaincy dispute between the Gbagi people who are the original indigenes of the Bwari became protracted when the Hausa community settlers maneuvered and appointed an emir for Bwari.
He said that prior to the clash, efforts had been on by the FCT authorities to resolve the matter before tempers flared and it snowballed into the conflict.
While noting that normalcy has been restored and police personnel deployed to the area to ensure calm and prevent further clashes, the senior police officer said all attempts made by miscreant to touch banks, the Jamb Centre and the Nigerian Law School Complex were prevented.
Asked if the clash had anything to do with terror alert for which security agencies have been working round the clock to prevent, the officer said there was no correlation whatsoever.
He hinted that towards ensuring the plot of the terrorists to bomb Abuja did not see the light of the day; the Nigerian Airforce has deployed surveillance aircraft patrols in and around the FCT for aerial and ground synergy with the 400-man joint security outfit put in place to checkmate the threat.
Areas of focus particularly as the Christmas celebrations begins are the parks like the Millennium Park, the Amusement Parks in Maitama, Jabi, Garki, Asokoro, Churches and places of worship all over the FCT and shopping malls adding that “We carry out daily sweeping of these places by experts from the Explosive Ordinance Deportment (EOD) randomly.
As at the time of filing this report, the FCT Minister, the Police Commissioner and the Senator Representing FCT were scheduled to meet with leaders of the Hausa community and the Gbagi community with a view to resolving the dispute.
