Hoodlums hijack protest in Niger state, steal food items from trucks

Some hoodlums have disrupted a protest by fish vendors, and stolen food items from trucks stuck in traffic, along Kaduna road in Suleja area of Niger state.

Confirming the development to TheCable on Thursday, Sadiq Bala, a candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) for the Suleja constituency, said the fish sellers were protesting the rapid increase in prices of fish.

Bala said the fish vendors started the protest at about 10 am on Thursday.

“It was fish sellers that started the protest before it was hijacked by the aggrieved youths who turned it into a hardship demonstration,” he said.

“According to the reports I got from the scene, the price of a carton of fish was N34,000 yesterday but this morning the price rose to N48,000, so the reaction was in response to the increase.

“Some passers-by came and took over the protest. They blocked the Abuja-Kaduna road which is a very busy road, so they were able to draw attention.

“Yes, they started with pineapple, they hijacked a vehicle — a red Volkswagen carrying pineapples — but the driver was able to escape.

“There were some Dangote and BUA trucks on the road. They hijacked the trucks and started to steal food items.

“One of the trucks was carrying bags of rice. They were able to overwhelm the driver and some of them even started celebrating.

“The security operatives were there. Soldiers came, Suleja and Tafa police went there and started firing teargas, so they were able to disperse the protesters.”

When contacted, Wasiu Abiodun, police spokesperson in Niger, also confirmed the development.

“There was a protest this morning along Kaduna road, Suleja, and the protest plan was not communicated to the police. It was later discovered to be hijacked by some miscreants who blocked the highway,” he said.

“Area commander Suleja, ACP Sani Musa, mobilised patrol teams to the scene, dispersed the protesters and the highway was cleared for free flow of traffic. However, monitoring continues.”

Recently, residents of Minna, the Niger state capital and Suleja area of the state, protested the high cost of living in the country.

Demonstrations have also been staged in some parts of the country as prices of food items continue to skyrocket since the removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023.