Youths protesting insecurity block highway in Katsina

Some youths in Funtua and Birnin-Gwari area of Katsina state on Saturday blocked a major highway that cuts through these communities in protest against the rising insecurity in the area.

According to the PUNCH, travellers were delayed for about three hours before the police from Funtua intervened.

In December, over 300 schoolboys were kidnapped from their school in Kankara in Katsina at a time President Muhammadu Buhari was visiting the state.

The schoolboys regained freedom a week after their abduction.

The state has been witnessing a spike in insecurity. Some travellers on the Funtua-Dandume-Birnin-Gwari road have experienced armed robbery attacks.

The protest began about 7:00am. Tree branches and worn-out tyres were used as blockades on the road, the report said.

The newspaper quoted a motorist as saying the youth — during their demonstration — expressed dismay over the incessant attacks on their communities by gunmen.

The newspaper also quoted Sadi Bala, a resident of one of the communities, as saying more than 50 people have been abducted in the past week.

“No fewer than fifty people from the communities that were kidnapped during the week by the gunmen are still being held by their abductors,” Bala said.