Several cars were set on fire by hoodlums in the Bukuru metropolis, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State on Monday afternoon.
The hoodlums suspected to be against the city renewal drive led by the state Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, are said to have attacked passersby, injuring many in the process.
Naijaonpoint gathered that the trouble began when some members of the Jos City Renewal Committee attempted to clear a site in the Bukuru community, but encountered resistance from hoodlums who attacked the officials.
The hoodlums’ actions took the residents by surprise, causing panic in the community as they rampaged, burning cars and setting houses ablaze.
According to The Punch, a resident who witnessed the incident, Usman Ibrahim, said that when the officials were sighted, the hoodlums started stoning them.
Usman said, “It was this afternoon in the Bukuru community around 2 pm. We saw some officials of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board as they arrived in the community and moved to a site which they earlier cleared before.
“As soon as they began to mark the site, some hoodlums emerged and started throwing stones at the officials and said they would not allow any project in the area. Before you knew it, they started burning cars parked along the road and attacking innocent passers-by.
“They also set some houses ablaze. So everybody started running and that is what happened.”
It was learnt that the rapid deployment of security agents to the community prevented the situation from worsening further.
The spokesman for the State Police Command, Alabo Alfred, confirmed the incident and mentioned that security operatives had been deployed to the affected community, while the investigation had commenced.
“Yes, we are aware of the incident in Bukuru. Our men have been deployed to the community. I can not tell you what caused the problem but we have started an investigation and we will let you know when we are done. But the situation is calm now”, the PPRO stated