Some angry youth on Monday staged a protest in Tsafe local government area of Zamfara state and burnt vehicles and other properties, Daily Trust reports.
Tsafe local government area is one of the areas of the state hit hard by the activities of armed bandits in recent times.
The youth who blocked Gusau – Funtua – Zaria road and whose reason for the act was not immediately known invaded some party offices, political billboards and the local government secretariat destroying and burning structures and vehicles.
The demonstration started as peaceful one but was later hijacked by some youth who turned it violent and started destroying public properties.
A resident simply identified as Abdullahi Garba said 5 persons were killed and six injured during the incident.
He said more than five vehicles were burnt adding that those injured are receiving treatments in hospital.
The spokesman of the state police command, SP Muhammad Shehu, said 23 suspects have been arrested and weapons recovered adding that they would be paraded as soon as possible.
He said no loss of lives was recorded, saying the protest had nothing to do with IDPs.
The chairman of the local government, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, described the incident as unfortunate saying that a committee would be set up to unravel the cause.
“These thugs must have been motivated by mischievous politicians who feel that they must always be in control or they will not allow peace to reign.
“We have recently bought some cars and motorcycles which we intend to distribute to the citizens of the area under our empowerment programme and all these have been raised to ashes including some private properties.
He said a committee would be set up to investigate the matter and anyone found wanting especially the sponsors would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
The police spokesperson further said the Command had deployed additional one and half Units of PMF/CTU and conventional police personnel along with police special forces to Tsafe to compliment the efforts of the existing security deployment in the area.
“Normalcy had been restored in Tsafe and its environs and that police and other security Agencies are in total control of the situation with rigorous patrol, stop and search and continuous raiding of identified criminal hideouts ongoing.
“The Commissioner of Police, Zamfara State Command, Usman A. Belel, along with the Brigade Commander and other Heads of Security Agencies visited Tsafe in the early hours of today and assessed the security situation and ensure total regards to law and order.
“The Command appeals for continued support and cooperation from members of the public by giving the police and other security agencies timely information on activities of disgruntled elements in the state for prompt action,” Shehu said.
