‘We are no longer safe… we may relocate’

Insecurity heightens in Calabar as Suya seller is robbed, killed

A Thirty-Five-Year-Old barbequed meat (Suya) seller, Habibu Maude, was shot dead by unknown persons in Calabar, Cross River State capital, at the weekend.

Following the incident, shops and other businesses in Bogobiri, an Hausa settlement in Calabar, were immediately shut down in solidarity with the deceased and to avoid being the target of any attack amidst the heightened insecurity occasioned by the incident.

The Suya seller and father of four, who hailed from Tangaza Local Council in Sokoto State, was shot dead on Friday night at his selling spot on White House Street in Calabar after he was robbed of the day’s sale.

A member of the Hausa community in Calabar who pleaded anonymity, said: “We now live in fear due to incessant attack on our members, especially Suya sellers. We are afraid we are now target of attacks.

“We no longer feel safe in Calabar and most of us may be forced to relocate due to insecurity.

I have lived in Calabar for over 20 years and I have never experienced this level of insecurity. It is unfortunate that Calabar, a once-peaceful city is now totally unsafe.”

While speaking to The Guardian in tears, the elder brother of the deceased, Malam Sanusi Mohammed, said the hoodlums riddled his brother’s body with bullets after robbing him as they took away his money and unsold meat.

“My brother usually went out to sell at No. 16 White House Street every evening and normally returns between 10.00p.m.-11.00 pm.

But on the day of the incident, he stayed longer than usual and a neighbour had to call his cell phone to find out what the problem was and there was no response. The neighbour went to his house and his wife confirmed he was not yet back.

“While we were contemplating what to do next, we saw some soldiers on patrol and reported the matter to them. They took us that night in their patrol van to where he was selling Suya on White House Street and we were shocked to see him in a pool of his blood.”

Commenting on the incident, the secretary of Suya sellers in Bogobiri, Mallam Mustapha Yusuf, expressed shock over the brutal killing of Maude, saying hoodlums had on several occasions attacked and robbed their members within Calabar metropolis.

Yusuf, who plies his trade at Iman Junction in Mbukpa, said he had been attacked and robbed twice by hoodlums, noting that last weekend’s killing was the height of incessant attacks on their members.

He, however, dismissed insinuations that Northerners were being targeted, saying the current security challenge in the state is not being faced by northerners alone, but a general problem and “we have advised our members to be cautious and always endeavour to close on time.”