24-hour curfew hits Kaduna residents hard, markets, shops closed

There was calm in Kaduna metropolis on Tuesday following the 24-hour curfew imposed by the state government as residents stayed indoors in their homes, while many markets and roads were deserted.

Armed soldiers, police, and other paramilitary personnel were seen patrolling various places and locations to enforce the curfew.

Many residents in the suburbs were also seen discussing in groups in front of their houses, as the curfew took a hard turn on them with no market open for the purchase of food items, just as many shops were put under lock and key.

Some residents at Barnawa, Sabo, Romi, Hayan Banki, and Kakuri who spoke with The Guardian lamented the lack of transportation to take their patients to the hospital for medical attention, while others said that they had no foodstuffs available to feed their families because the markets are completely deserted by traders.

A resident of Sabo, who gave his name as Dan Aliyu, said, “The government should pity us, we are now suffering seriously because of this curfew.”

“There is no food for our children, and no transportation for us to go to the market. And even imagine, we are talking about hardship in the country; this curfew is worsening our situation.”

Also, at Kakuri, a patient who gave her name as Rose Audu said, “I was billed for an injection at Saint Gerald Hospital and I have been going to the hospital for my injection and treatment, but with this curfew, there is no transportation and movements are restricted.”

Meanwhile, as security operatives battled hoodlums who mixed with protesters in Kaduna on Monday, a stray bullet wounded a Kaduna man who was inside his home at the Hayin Danmani community.

Two young men in the community were reportedly killed when they burgled a rice processing mill to steal.

Malam Bala Wushishi, a resident of the community who spoke to our correspondent on Tuesday, said the situation was tense as the security forces fought the rampaging youths who took over the protest and caused mayhem.

He said, “I just returned from the 44 Hospital where the man is receiving treatment. He was not among the protesters. We were all in our houses as gunshots were heard everywhere. Suddenly, a bullet found its way into the man’s house and hit him. I saw him, he is lucky to be alive.

“These young boys were killed when they went to steal rice in a local mill. They were just hiding under the guise of protest to steal.”

At the western bypass, the miscreants had a field day before the arrival of soldiers, who gave them a hot chase.

An eyewitness, Mr. Sam Yusuf, said, “The miscreants hauled stones and other hard objects at moving vehicles. They did that to an articulated vehicle (trailer) that was carrying goats. In fact, they even climbed the truck and started picking the goats before the driver zoomed off.”

Similarly, another truck carrying bags of red pepper was stopped and vandalised by the miscreants along the Kawo-Hayin Banki axis in Kaduna North Local Government Area; each bag of red pepper was estimated to be close to N200,000, he added.