Zamfara: Angry Jangebe youths vow to kill Governor Bello Matawalle over kidnapping fallout

Government officials who love their lives would stay away from Jangebe, angry youths have warned. The list includes Governor Bello Matawalle.

Jangebe, a community in Zamfara State, made the news following the kidnapping and subsequent release of many students from Government Girls Secondary School.

A protest broke out when the government was trying to reunite the Jangebe girls with their families on Wednesday. During the protest, Nigerian soldiers shot and killed a teenager, residents allege.

The government wanted to take the freed girls for counselling and rehabilitation.

Pandemonium, however, broke out after anxious parents disrupted the speech of Nasiru Muazu Magarya, Speaker of the Zamfara House of Assembly, and forcefully took their daughters away.

The schoolgirls, who arrived at the school in the evening, were seated in the examination hall and were being addressed by the Speaker when the visibly disturbed parents broke into the hall and started hurling insults at the dignitaries that were meant to address the parents and the schoolgirls.

The programme was disrupted and after sensing trouble, the Speaker and commissioners attending the event quickly left.

Shots were, according to Sahara Reporters, fired by men of the Nigerian army to disperse the crowd that was waiting outside the school. The youths also began to throw stones at the security operatives.

A teenager was killed in the clash between the security operatives and youths in the community.

“We are going to kill any government official or security operative that visit our village again over the life of the boy that was shot dead by soldiers during Wednesday’s protest,” a villager, who echoed the mood in the community, told Sahara Reporters.

This is not the first time Jangebe youths would clash with the authorities over Jangebe girls’ abduction. After the girls were kidnapped, youths blocked politicians and security agencies from entering the community. They also attacked journalists.

The state government has retaliated by imposing an indefinite curfew on the community and banning all market activities. It also accused the residents of supporting bandits.

Commissioner for Information, Sulaiman Anka, in a statement said the government imposed the curfew to prevent further breach of peace.

“Similarly, there is strong discovered evidence of market activities in the town that aid and abet bandits’ activities in the town and neighbouring communities,” the statement read, Thursday.

“Consequently, all market activities in the town are hereby suspended until further notice.

“The state government is poised to ensure safety of lives and properties of its citizens at all cost.

“With this announcement, the Zamfara State Police Command is, hereby, enjoined to ensure total enforcement.”