Traffic flow was restricted in the evening of Monday by Women and Youths who tripped out in their hundreds and blocked the ever-busy Bauchi-TTafawa Balewa road.
The Women and Youths of Rafin Zurfi, outskirts of Bauchi metropolis, blocked the road at Benco Junction in a peaceful protest against the arrest and remand in the Correctional Centre of the Mai Anguwa (Community leader) of the area, Mr Luka, his wife, elder sister, and son.
Though the protesters were not violent as of the time of this report, they vowed not to remove the barricade until those in the Correctional Centre were released.
All efforts to pacify them proved abortive as they refused to open the dual carriageway, thereby causing a very long gridlock as vehicles were not allowed to move in either direction. Not even the presence of Police personnel could deter the protesters.
The Youth Leader of Rafin Zurfi, Dedan Dedanson, who spoke to journalists, insisted that the road would not be opened until their demand was met, insisting that it was pure injustice meted out to the Community leader and his family.
He, however, assured that the protesters would not be violent but would do everything possible to ensure that justice was done.
Narrating the cause of the problem, one of the daughters of the detained Community leader, Precious Luka, said that her parents were remanded in the Correctional Centre over a land dispute between him and another man.
According to her, the man is building a shopping complex in the area and wants to block the only access road to the other buildings, which her father, as leader of the community, resisted.
She narrated further that the man dragged her father before the Zone 12 Police Command sometime last year after he bought the place, and the issue had been dragging since then.
According to her, “I was at home when my mother called me to bring some money to them at the Chief Magistrate Court 3.
When I got there, I was told that they needed more money to bail themselves out, but when we could not raise the money, they were sent to the Correctional Centre for reasons I don’t know.”
Precious Luka said that she joined the peaceful protest to demand the safe and unconditional release of her parents.
When contacted, the State Police Command PPRO, SP Ahmed Wakili, said that he would not comment on the matter because it is before the court and he does not want to incur contempt of court.
He, however, said that the Police does not involve itself in land disputes but will always do so to protect lives, saying “It was because of that that you saw our Men there to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.”
Meanwhile, it took the firing of canisters of tear gas by Officers and Men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to disperse the protesting Women and Youths, remove the barricade, and allow the free flow of traffic.
. TheWitness
