“…though the state government is pained by the incident, nobody has the right to take laws into his or her hands for whatever reason”
Some angry youths of Kaffin-Koro, Paikoro local government area of Niger have allegedly burnt down the Police station in protest to killing of a Catholic Priest, Rev Father Isaac Achi of St. Peters and Paul Catholic Church by armed bandits.
It was gathered the youths who yet unidentified by the Police in the state Command of the Force, were said to have been angered by the perceived slow response of the police to the cries of help from the people when the gunmen attacked the slain Priest’s official residence on Sunday at about 3:00 am.
Nigerian Tribune, however, gathered that during the protest, cars, and houses, including the police Divisional Headquarters under the state Police Command were burnt, even as several persons sustained varying degrees of injuries.
It could however be recalled that Rev. Fr. Isaac Achi was said to have been set ablaze when some suspected armed bandits allegedly failed to gain entrance into his residence, where he was burnt and suffered high degree of injuries that led to his death.
Confirming the development in the area, the Niger State Hon. Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Services, Hon. Emmanuel Bagna Umar said, “though the state government is pained by the incident, nobody has the right to take laws into his or her hands for whatever reason”.
The Commissioner however assured that Governor Abubakar Sani Bello-led administration in Niger State will not allow any form of violence that would lead to the destruction of government or private property as well as loss of lives.
According to him, “since the incident happened on Sunday, you have seen the commitment of government that is why, we are calling on communities to support government in riding the state of bandits and not to take sides by vandalizing government property”.
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Hon. Umar explained further that a security team has already been dispatched to Kaffin-Koro to do an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, especially the remote or immediate cause of the violence outbreak by the Youths.
Also, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PRO, DSP Wasiu Abiodun confirmed the burning down of the police station in the area by some yet unidentified angry youths, saying, “it was as a result of lack of quick response in rescuing the slain Catholic Priest.
“They are angry that the police could not come on time to rescue the Rev. Father and this is because his house is about one kilometer away from the police station. Before they could mobilize and get to his place to engage the assailants, the hoodlums had already ran away from the scene, when they saw the police coming”.
He further argued that, “another problem was that there was no water close by to quickly put out the fire when the police team got there to save the Priest”.
