Kaduna now a ghost town

THE northern political headquarters, Kaduna, was a deserted city throughout the day on Wednesday as residents had either fled or stayed indoors. The state governor, Patrick Yakowa, on Tuesday again slammed a 24-hour curfew on the state to curb the spread of violence since Sunday when the Boko Haram sect bombed three churches in the metropolis. Our correspondent reports that the residents of the city are spending their second day indoors. The attack on the churches provoked a reprisal by Christian youths who took to the streets to avenge the deaths of their brothers. The death toll in the violence that has since overtaken the state was on Tuesday put at 74. Our correspondent who went round the city reports that the ever busy Ahmadu Bello Way in the centre of the town was completely deserted but for a handful of residents who dared the situation to move around the neighbourhood. Security operatives on patrol were also seen stopping and searching the few who
ventured out. Many were said to have defied the total restriction and dared to go around in search of food. Many poor residents were seen besieging the gates of homes of the wealthy, asking to be fed. The residents complained that the events that led to the curfew did not give them the opportunity to stockpile foods on which to live. A caterer, Ann Adeleye, 28, said she had planned to replenish her stock on Monday but for the Sunday attacks that had since shut the city against normal activities. “I went to the market on Monday but it was closed. And it has remained closed since then. We have been living on whatever we can lay our hands on in the house,” Adeleye told our correspondent on Wednesday. A woman who gave her name as Mrs Madugba said she had been begging neighbours to feed her only daughter, Sonia. Reports say only security agents, comprising the police, army, civil defence corps and others providing essential services were seen plying the streets. Police helicopters were seen hovering over the state capital to assist in monitoring the situation, while armoured vehicles and others carrying armed personnel were seen moving round the city to ensure strict compliance with the curfew. Roadblocks were mounted on strategic points while junctions, commercial and public places were heavily guarded, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. Passenger and haulage vehicles coming from parts of the North and heading for Abuja and the southern towns were parked at the roadblocks as they were not allowed to pass through the state capital. NAN report adds, “Bread and other essential items provided by retailers have been exhausted while perishable commodities abandoned in the markets have gone bad due to the curfew. “Similarly, water supply has been disrupted as residents were seen in some areas fetching water from commercial boreholes while electricity supply has also been affected.” The Federal Government security team headed by the Chief of Air staff, Air Marshal Oluseyi Pentinrin, arrived in Kaduna State on Wednesday. The CDS arrived in company with the Acting Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar. The security chiefs reportedly went into a closed-door meeting with Yakowa immediately they arrived the troubled town. Pentirin later assured residents of protection of their lives and properties. “Security agencies have been deployed all over the state to achieve just that,’’ Petinrin said. The CDS said the security chiefs were working round the clock to ensure complete restoration of law and order in the state. He commended the state government and the security chiefs in the state for curtailing the violence that erupted on Sunday after the bomb attacks on three churches in the state. The CDS said they would soon address the security challenges facing some parts of the country, including Kaduna State. According to him, they will bring back peace to the state as soon as possible to enable law-abiding citizens to go about their business. Yakowa commended the security agencies in the state for their prompt intervention in the violence that broke out in the state shortly after the multiple bomb attacks.